Harry, Hayley and the Philosopher's Stone
by VampireGirl1797
Summary: What if Harry had a twin that looked like their mother, Lily? How will Snape react? How will she fit into the story? Hayley Lily Potter is loyal, smart, caring and fiercely protective of those she cares about. She doesn't see prejudices and loathes anyone who does. Eventual Draco Malfoy OC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

'Harry! Hayley! Wake up! You need to make breakfast!' Aunt Petunia screeched from the other side of the door, unlocking the deadbolt on the other side and sliding the flap open so that the light streamed through.

'Yes Aunt Petunia.' Harry answered robotically, but I remained silent knowing my tone would be snarky and I knew better than to annoy her on her precious son's birthday.

'Come on, Ley we should move before…' He nudged my shoulder encouragingly but went silent as Dudley started stomping down the stairs with enough force to cause the dust to fall on us.

Harry and I had a room that we were forced to share under the stairs of our Aunt and Uncle's four-bedroom home. It wasn't so bad when we were younger, but Harry and I were due to celebrate our eleventh birthday soon and the space was starting to get a little cramped. But I'd been with my brother so long, I didn't think I could handle having a room of my own; he was the only _real_ family I had. Harry shielded me from the dust as best as he could, waiting for Dudley to tire of stomping on the stairs out of spite. It didn't take him long; it was his birthday after all and he had mountains of presents waiting for him in the living room. Once he was safely away, we exited the cupboard under the stairs and went to the kitchen. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were busy fussing over their son, and so didn't notice our hasty entrance. Harry started taking the bacon and eggs from the fridge while I grabbed the frying pans from the cupboard closest to the cooker and set everything up. Once Harry had mixed the batter for the eggs and another separate mixture for the French toast, he placed them into separate pans and moved to the far right so that he could start cooking the bacon. We had been doing this since we were eight; Petunia and Vernon wasted no time in putting us to work so we could "earn our keep". I personally found it didn't make much sense as they never let us eat anything we made, the only keep we earned was our shared bedroom under the stairs, hand-me downs from Dudley and two meals a week; if we were lucky.

'Come on you two. Breakfast should be ready by now!' Vernon snapped, glaring at us over his paper from his place at the head of the table.

'Yes Uncle Vernon.' I answered, placing the finished French toast and scrambled eggs onto the three waiting plates that Harry had already placed onto the counter beside me. Once I was finished I put the pans in the sink and added some hot water so they could soak. Then I reached into the cupboard above the sink and grabbed three small glasses, filling them with orange juice while Harry added the bacon he had prepared to the plates. When he had done that I took the pan from him and put it into the sink, my gaze not even leaving the glasses I was still adding juice to. Harry took Vernon and Dudley their breakfasts, knowing they would complain the most if either one of them had to wait an extra twenty seconds for their meal. He quickly returned for Petunia's plate and I followed him, carefully taking all three glasses the few steps to the dining table, placing a glass in front of each of them.

'Clean up. We'll shout you when we are finished with these dishes.' Vernon snapped around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

'Yes Uncle Vernon.' We answered simultaneously.

Without another word we went to the kitchen and did the dishes; I washed them and Harry dried them. We didn't speak; we knew if we did Vernon would yell at us to be quiet as talking slowed us down. Once I had finished washing, I helped Harry put away the dried dishes and when we had finished, Vernon, Petunia and Dudley were finished with their own breakfast's, so we collected their plates and glasses and completed the process over again while Vernon and Petunia took Dudley through the archway to the living room where his presents were waiting. Harry had just finished putting away the other dishes and I was finishing wiping down the table, having already done the counter tops, when we heard Dudley start yelling.

'How many are there?' He demanded.

'Thirty Six, counted them myself.' Uncle Vernon sounded very pleased with himself.

'Thirty six? Thirty Six? Last year, last year I had thirty seven!' Dudley yelled, clearly on the verge of throwing a tantrum.

Harry and I shared a look, rolling our eyes in unison as we made our way back to our cupboard; we knew by now to stay out of Dudley's way if he was having a tantrum.

'Yes well, some of them are a bit bigger than last year-,' Vernon tried to explain.

'I don't care how _big_ they are!' Dudley cut his father off with a screech.

As usual, Aunt Petunia piped up in an attempt to diffuse the situation, 'When we go out later we'll get you two new presents. How does that sound, pumpkin?'

I shook my head in amazement when we heard no more yelling; I assumed that meant that Dudley was placated and was now tearing into his presents. He may have turned eleven that day, but mentally he was no more than three years old. Harry and I stayed on our bed for the whole hour it took Dudley to open his thirty six presents. I had my legs crossed with my body facing the door and my head resting on Harry's shoulder, lost in my thoughts while Harry played with a horse figurine that we had found a few months ago; I assumed it was Dudley's but he obviously wasn't missing it.

We both flinched when the door was suddenly pulled open with enough force to make it clatter against the stairs. Uncle Vernon was standing there, glaring in between us both and I tensed, wondering if we were about to be punished. I wondered if I had left the dishwater in the sink again instead of draining it out, but for the life of me I couldn't remember if I had. I felt Harry inch closer to me; ready to move in front of me if Uncle Vernon moved to strike.

'Mrs. Fig has broken her hip.' He told us, his tone displeased, 'and we don't trust you two rodents in the house by yourself so you will have to come to the zoo with us. We're leaving in twenty minutes so get yourselves presentable.'

With that he closed the door, but didn't lock it. I looked over to Harry; sure that he could read the cautious happiness on my face. The only times we left the house was to go to school or to be babysat by Mrs. Fig across the street.

'We're going to the zoo.' Harry said, trying to contain his excitement.

'We're going to the zoo,' I agreed, hugging him for a moment before we both stood and made our way upstairs. If Uncle Vernon wanted us presentable that meant that we would have to wash. Once we had washed our faces and brushed our teeth with our toothbrush, as Uncle Vernon didn't want to spend the extra money so we could have our own, we made our way down to the cupboard and changed into fresh clothes. It didn't make much of a difference; we shared the hand me downs from Dudley and they consisted of large shirts and baggy jeans that were nowhere near close to fitting either of us. But we didn't dare complain; Uncle Vernon had given me a split lip and Harry a black eye when we asked for tooth brushes of our own, so we didn't want to see what would happen if we asked for our own clothes.

'We're leaving!' Vernon shouted, without a word Harry and I walked out from under the stairs, closing the door behind us and making our way out of the front door and to the grey family van that Uncle Vernon drove. Harry had just opened the door and was about to get in first, not willing to let me sit next to Dudley, when the door slammed shut and we came face to face with a furious looking Uncle Vernon.

'We are doing this out of the kindness of our hearts. And so help me, if there is any funny business, any at all, neither of you will eat for a _week_ ,' he hissed getting in our faces, 'understand?'

'Yes sir.' We said in unison. He looked in between us both for a moment before nodding, seeming satisfied with our response.

The drive to the zoo was silent, at least for Harry and me. We didn't dare to speak and risk Vernon turning the car around and making us stay at home. Harry did his best to ignore the punches Dudley kept aiming at his arm and the pinches he kept placing on his leg. He couldn't help the occasional wince slip through though and at those times Harry had to hold me back to stop me from punching Dudley and getting us both in trouble. When we arrived I couldn't stop my sigh of relief and neither could Harry. As soon as the car was parked we jumped out, Harry taking my arm and gently linking it through his to make sure he wouldn't lose me in the huge crowds. I let Harry lead the way as he trailed after Uncle Vernon; I was too fascinated by the crowds, the families and the laughter around me that I would have definitely gotten lost if it hadn't been for Harry. The day progressed quickly, Harry and I were completely enraptured by the animals; we managed to get around and see everything, aside from the reptile house which we were headed to last; Dudley had developed a sudden obsession with them but personally I didn't think his five second attention span would be able to cope with owning an animal from the reptile family. I felt the heat when we walked into the reptile house and I instinctively stepped closer to my brother as a crowd of what looked like school children rushed to get past us.

Once they were gone, we walked forward, my arm still linked through his as we took the time to look in at the different kinds of reptiles behind the protective glass. There were turtles, crocodiles and lizards amongst others. When we reached the end of the walkway, we saw a giant python circled around a log, looking particularly relaxed as the crowds moved past his glass without much interest. I however was fascinated, as was Harry. We both stepped up to the wooden railing, stopping ourselves from pressing our faces to the glass. We were stood in comfortable silence, observing the reptile, at least until Dudley joined us. I tensed when he slid into the empty space beside me, staring at the snake for all of five seconds before getting bored.

'Make it move!' He yelled, aiming his demand to Vernon who was behind him reading a newspaper.

Vernon looked up and idly stepped forward; knocking the glass lightly before shouting, 'move!'

When the python didn't even twitch, Dudley lost his patience and rapped the glass with much more force before yelling, 'move!'

I saw Uncle Vernon flinch at his son's actions, but as usual he didn't berate him, he just let him get on with it. I noticed his relief when Dudley declared the snake "boring" and move on to another animal that was actually move him. He and Petunia trailed after him, leaving Harry and I alone once more.

'Sorry about him.' I murmured to the snake.

'He doesn't realize what it's like, laying there day after day while everyone else just looks in on you.' Harry said, his gaze also on the snake.

'Yeah he's a _little_ spoiled.' I added, sharing a smirk with Harry before we looked back to the snake, only to jump when we noticed it was leaning toward us, its head a mere ten centimeters from the glass.

'C-can you understand us?' Harry asked, sounded astounded but a little unsure.

We both gasped when the snake literally nodded in answer to his question.

'Do you have any family here?' I asked, my voice gentle as I leaned forward a little.

The snake shook his head in answer to that, its gaze looking at the "bred in captivity" sign to our right. We nodded in understanding, I felt my gaze soften in sympathy.

'I'm sorry. We don't have much family either. But we're lucky to have each other.' Harry said, his arm tightening a little in mine.

'That is lucky,' the snake hissed.

Before we could share a shocked look that the snake had actually used words this time, I was suddenly shoved into Harry. Neither one of us were expecting it so we both went to the floor, landing side by side.

'Mummy! Daddy! You won't believe what this snake is doing!' Dudley shouted, pressing his hands and face to the glass.

I felt anger and annoyance blossom inside of me as I stared at my cousin, wishing for the millionth time that our parents hadn't died in a car crash. Wishing that we didn't have to live with our terrible Aunt, Uncle and cousin. I wondered if we would be happier. It wouldn't have taken much, if I were honest. Harry and I gasped when the glass separating the snake from us disappeared, and because Dudley had been leaning so excessively on it, he fell forward, landing in the water at the front of the python's enclosure with a splash. Before Harry and I could even move from the floor, the snake slithered over the wooden frame that used to hold the glass and the railing attached to the wall, landing on the floor with a smack.

'Thankssss,' it hissed at us as it slithered past us, towards the exit.

I watched him go in astonishment, amused at the people that kept screaming and jumping out of the way when they noticed him on the floor.

'Dudley!' I looked back over to the enclosure to see Petunia screaming and Dudley smacking the glass over and over again and I frowned, wondering when it came back up. After a moment, Harry and I shared a look and started to laugh lightly, though when Uncle Vernon looked down to us we immediately stopped, gulping with worry.

'We didn't do anything!' Harry insisted as he winced in pain from the grip Uncle Vernon had on his ear.

'One minute the glass was there and then it was gone!' I backed up Harry, cringing from the grip Uncle Vernon had on my hair.

'It was like magic!' Harry finished.

Uncle Vernon released Harry for a moment to open the door under the stairs; once it was open he shoved me in first, Harry followed closely before he slammed the door. I heard the deadbolt click in place and Uncle Vernon leaned forward, his face visible through the little cracks, as the flap was open.

'There is no such _thing_ as magic!' He sneered, slamming the flap shut.

Harry and I were locked in our cupboard for two weeks after that, we weren't allowed any meals, but they did allow is one bathroom break a day. They didn't even bring us out to cook their meals, which we were surprised about; any other time we had been punished they still expected us to cook for them. But Harry and I appreciated the break, we spent most of the time catching up on sleep, chatting about what we were going to do when we were old enough to leave the Dursley's forever and sitting in comfortable silence when we didn't have the energy to talk. With the lack of meals, we were tired more often than not.

'Up, both of you, we expect breakfast to be ready in twenty minutes.' Petunia ordered, opening the cupboard door with a slam.

Harry and I stood immediately, grateful to be able to stretch our muscles a little even if it meant we had to cook for everyone else to do it. We started our routine, preparing pancakes and bacon at their request. We were just finishing the cleaning up when we heard the post fall through the letterbox, Harry turned to collect it knowing that Uncle Vernon would have asked him anyway. Dudley was currently parading around in front of his mother and father wearing his new red and white pinstriped uniform. I personally thought he looked like he'd escaped from Mary Poppins but I would never voice that aloud. When Harry returned the kitchen and was clean, all of the dishes completely finished. I frowned when I noticed Harry staring at two letters in his hands, completely astonished. He slowly walked to Vernon and handed him the other letters in his spare hand before joining me behind the counter and handing one of the letters he had been clutching to, to me. With a crinkled brow I took it from him, my jaw dropping in shock when I saw the name and address:

 _Miss Hayley Lily Potter_

 _The cupboard under the stairs_

 _4 Privet Drive_

 _Little Whinging_

 _Surrey_

I noticed that Harry's was exactly the same, aside from the name of course. We shared a look, both of us a mixture of amazed, excited and confused; we _never_ got mail. Turning them over at the same time, we were both just about to remove the seal when the letters were snatched from our hands. I blinked in confusion but looked up to see Dudley running over to Uncle Vernon, our letters clutched in his pudgy hand.

'Look! Look! Harry and Hayley have letters!' He shouted.

'Give those back! They're _ours_.' Harry yelled, seeming to catch himself after the words had left his mouth and he cringed away a little, fearing punishment.

'Yours? Who would be writing to _you?_ ' Uncle Vernon mocked, but when he turned the letters over and saw the seal on the back I saw something similar to fear shining in his eyes, when he shared a look with Aunt Petunia they were both pale.

After that incident, Uncle Vernon didn't allow us to get the mail again, but we knew the letters were still coming. If we didn't see them on our way back to our cupboard after breakfast, we would have known from the expletives that Uncle Vernon gave out every time he went to check the mail. About a week had passed when Uncle Vernon took action and boarded up the letterbox on the front door, sending a smug grin to Harry and I when we peeked out of our cupboard to investigate the noise. As the days passed Harry and I started to lose hope. Uncle Vernon was going to make sure that we never got to see what was in those letters, of that I was sure.

It was Sunday, and Harry and I were passing out biscuits to Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley when Uncle Vernon started chortling happily.

'Fine day Sunday.' He suddenly said, smiling smugly, 'why is that Dudley?'

Dudley simply shrugged, not interested in his father's ramblings, Harry and I however had a pretty good idea.

'Because there's no post on Sundays?' Harry guessed, sharing a disheartened look with me.

'Right you are Harry,' Uncle Vernon acknowledged, taking a digestive off the plate of biscuits Harry was offering him, 'no post on Sundays. Ha. No blasted letters today. No sir-.'

Harry and I both looked over to him when his words suddenly cut off; it wasn't like Uncle Vernon to just suddenly stop bragging. When I saw a letter fly from the fireplace to hit Uncle Vernon straight in the face, I understood why he had suddenly gone silent. The house suddenly started shaking and Harry came to stand beside me, his arm linking through mine as we both waited for what was to come in excitement. We weren't disappointed; letters started flying into the house from everywhere; the letterbox, the fireplace, the windows, it seemed endless. Harry released my arm and started to jump in the air, trying to catch one of the letters, with a shake of my head I bent over and picked one with my name on it off the floor. I had just opened it when Aunt Petunia suddenly yanked it out of my hands before I could read it.

'Get off!' I looked towards the hallway in alarm when I heard Harry shout, and without another word I headed in that direction. When I saw Uncle Vernon holding Harry tightly to prevent him from escaping I was furious, I was just about to scream at him to let Harry go when he suddenly collided with the wall as if he had been thrown. Without questioning it I went to my brother, hugging him hard.

'We're going to go away! _Far_ away! Where they can't find us!' Uncle Vernon shouted.

'Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?' Dudley whimpered into his mother's chest as she held him.

The next few days were spent driving aimlessly around Britain. Uncle Vernon would bring us to a new destination only to get out and mutter 'not secure enough' or 'they will definitely find us here.' Before getting back into the car and driving around again. I was starting to believe that we were all going to live in the car when Uncle Vernon returned to us looking particularly smug, swinging a silver key around on his index finger and holding a long rectangular package under his left arm. Petunia asked him what he had bought but he refused to answer her, leading us to the coast that was a half an hour walk away from he car park where he had left the car. I huddled closer to Harry as we walked; we were near to the sea so the wind was sharp and icy, biting into my face and arms. When he led us to a boat, everyone's mouth dropped open in shock. It was a boat that had to be rowed manually, which made me wonder what the keys Uncle Vernon had bought back with him were for.

'You two, get to it.' Vernon demanded pointing to me and Harry and then the ores sat waiting in the boat.

Harry and I shared a look and then we got into the boat taking an ore each. When everyone was seated we started to row, not actually knowing what direction we were aiming for. After a while Uncle Vernon told us to aim for the island that was about two hundred meters from the shore, it seemed so far away and by the time we actually reached it my arms and hands were purple from the cold. Harry and I had a hand-me-down jacket from Dudley that we shared but neither of us had a coat, so one of us was always feeling the weather. Today it was I, as Harry was wearing the thin black adidas jacket.

Harry and I pulled the boat up onto the gravel, coming to a stop next to the circular run down looking hut at the centre of the island. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley were already inside and I was just about to go in when Harry bought me to a stop with a gentle tug on my wrist.

'What's wrong?' I asked him, my brows furrowing in concern at the worry in his blue orbs.

'You're freezing, Ley.' He murmured, flicking his jet-black hair away from his eyes, almost knocking his circular glasses off in the process.

'I'm fine, Jay.' I told him, squeezing his hand softly; I called him Jay, as it was short for his middle name, James.

'No you're not.' He shook his head and shrugged off his jacket, draping it over my shoulders before I could protest. I wanted to be stubborn and give it back to him, but the warmth I felt as soon as the material touched my shoulders stopped me from speaking out. I put my arms through the sleeves and zipped it up, giving Harry a grateful smile.

We walked into the hut to see Uncle Vernon trying and failing to start a fire in the fireplace. From the looks of it, he was using empty crisp packets and matches, but they were just shriveling up from the heat and not catching fire. After a while he gave up and abandoned his work, taking the rectangular package he hadn't let out of his sight into the only other room. Aunt Petunia made a bed up for Dudley on the moth eaten sofa before telling us all to go to bed. Harry and I searched for the softest part of the floor to curl up on, cuddling into each other to try and gain some warmth under the small thin piece of cloth we had been gifted with. Pretty soon all that could be heard throughout the hut was the sounds of Uncle Vernon and Dudley snoring and the fierce wind and rain whipping through the hut. Without the fire we may as well have not had a roof over our heads, it was just as cold as it was outside, but I was thankful for Harry's body heat, without it I knew I would have been shivering.

'It's our birthday in,' Harry paused to glance at the watch on Dudley's chubby wrist, 'eleven minutes.'

'The big eleven at last.' I commented dryly, resting my face into the crook of his neck. I chuckled when he muttered a protest when he felt how cold my nose was.

'I wonder what the Dursley's will get us this year.' Harry mused, not sounding overly excited and that was understandable; last year they got us a coat hanger and a pair of socks. We didn't even get a pair each.

'I doubt they'll even remember, Jay,' I said softly, my voice sad.

Harry hugged me tighter to him, offering me as much comfort as he could and I squeezed his waist with the same intention. We were all each other had and I was grateful everyday for my brother; I honestly didn't think I would be able to cope living with the Dursley's without him. He was my confidant, my twin, my other half and the only family I had.

'When we get away from the Dursley's we'll celebrate our birthday properly. Every year. I promise you, Ley.' Harry murmured, his gaze on Dudley's watch.

'I'll hold you to that.' I murmured, also watching the time tick down. Two minutes to go.

I frowned when I heard a crunching noise coming from outside, it sounded like someone stepping on the gravel, 'Harry, do you hear that?'

'It's probably just the wind blowing gravel onto the hut.' Harry reassured me, clearly not thinking much of it. I had an uneasy feeling about it, but I was distracted when Dudley's watch beeped, signaling the beginning of a new hour. It was officially the 31st of July.

'Happy birthday, Harry.' I whispered.

'Happy birthday Hayley.' Harry replied, his eyes drooping. Mine started to follow suit, in the back of my mind I was wondering if we would be made to make breakfast in the morning.

BANG.

Harry and I startled and shot up to sitting position on the floor, as did Dudley from his position on the sofa.

'What is that racquet?' Dudley complained, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

BANG.

I got to my feet that time and pulled Harry with me, backing away to the far wall just as Uncle Vernon came rushing into the room, a rifle in his hand. I guess we knew what the brown package was now.

'Who's there! I suggest you leave at once, I will warn you- I'm armed!' Uncle Vernon's voice boomed over the storm that was raging outside. My hand went to Harry's when the banging continued, undeterred by Uncle Vernon's threat.

'I'm warning yo-,' Uncle Vernon started to formulate another threat but he was cut off when the hut's door caved in, landing on the creaking floor with a thud.

I gasped when a huge man stepped over the threshold. His clothes were dripping from the rain, his bushy hair and beard nearly covered his face, but his black eyes were distinguishable amongst the hair. His threatening demeanor disappeared when he spoke; his voice was friendly and almost… excited.

'Sorry about that. Don't suppose you could fit me a spot ah tea could yer? It were a long journey ya see.' The giant man said after he had placed the door back up as best as he could, successfully stopping the rain from entering the hut.

Harry and I shared a look, wondering who this man could possibly be and why he had gone to so much trouble to get to us in the middle of the sea.

'Budge up would ya?' The man asked Dudley, who was staring dumbly at him from his position on the couch. When he realized he was talking to him he let out a great yelp and scampered over to his mum and dad who were stood just behind the couch. Uncle Vernon was still holding his rifle, aiming it at the giant, but the man didn't seem threatened in the slightest.

'And there's Hayley and Harry!' The giant exclaimed from his place on the sofa, though he leaped up in excitement as soon as he spotted us and in one stride he was a meter from us, his eyes crinkled into a warm smile.

Harry and I shared a look before I managed to stutter out, 's-sorry, do we know you?'

'Las' time I saw you, you was only a couple a babies,' the man said, his eyes flitting in between us, 'you're both the double of ya parents, down to the eye colour.'

'W-we are?' Harry asked, sounding surprised.

We had never seen or been given a picture of our parents, we had no idea who we looked like, what traits we got from who, mainly because Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia flat out refused to talk about them, after a while we stopped asking. Harry and I liked to place bets on our mum and dad's appearances because of how different we looked. Harry had jet-black hair, blue eyes and he wore circular glasses. I had strawberry blonde hair, light freckles and bright green eyes. We couldn't have been more opposite if we tried.

'Yup. You are the double of ya father, Harry.' The man patted Harry's shoulder with enough force that his whole body shuddered before he turned to me and squeezed my free hand in his giant one, 'and you, Hayley look exactly like yer mum.'

'You knew our parents?' I asked when he had let go of my hand.

'Sure did,' the giant nodded, 'oh and before I forget, I've got sommert for the two of ya.' He started to rummage in his pockets before pulling out a white rectangular box, 'I mighta sat on it at some point, but I reckon it'll still taste the same.'

Harry released the grip he had on my hand to accept the box; he shared a look with me before opening it, when I saw what it was my heart stuttered. It was a circular cake that was covered in pink icing with: _Happee Birthdae Harry & Hayley _written over it in green icing. I felt my eyes water and without even thinking about it I stepped forward and threw my arms around the giant's waist as far as I could, hugging him as hard.

'Thank you.' I whispered against his brown coat; it smelled like freshly cut grass and the forest.

'Now, now none of that you'll get me all emotional.' The giant murmured, sounding quite teary as one of his hands gently patted my back; one of his hands was big enough to cover my whole back.

I stepped out of his embrace, as Uncle Vernon seemed to find his voice again.

'I demand that you leave at once, Sir!' he shouted, 'you are breaking and entering!'

The giant was in front of him in an instant, taking the rifle from him and bending it easily so that the shot Uncle Vernon fired ended up going through the ceiling. I jumped and Harry's hand grabbed mine again as we observed the scene.

'Shove off, Dursley you great prune!' The giant bellowed, throwing the gun across the room before he took his seat on the sofa once again. Uncle Vernon made a noise, I assumed it was supposed to be a sound of protest but it sounded more like a squeak.

'Anyway- Harry, Hayley,' the giant continued, turning his back to the Dursley's as Harry and I came to stand in front of him on the sofa, 'Happy birthday to ya!'

'Who are you?' Harry asked, holding the cake in his free hand.

The giant chuckled, his eyes flickering in between the both of us, 'true I haven't introduced myself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.'

He held out his huge hand and shook Harry's arm and then mine; Harry had to place the cake on the arm of the sofa in order to complete the task. Once he had released us both, he gently ushered us away from the fire so that he could kneel in front of it. I couldn't see what he was actually doing, but a moment later I could feel the warmth flooding from the fireplace and wrapping around me like I had just sunk into a hot bath.

'What about that tea then, eh?' Hagrid said, rubbing his hands together, 'though I wouldn't say no to something stronger if you don't mind.'

'I'm sorry but we don't actually have any food or… anything,' I shrugged, feeling my cheeks redden in embarrassment.

'Now, not ta worry,' Hagrid waved a giant hand dismissively, 'I got all we need in ere.' He winked as he started to rummage through his pockets.

I felt my own eyes widen when I saw him pull out a kettle, sausages, a frying pan, a teapot, several chipped mugs, a few plates, a poker, a bottle of some amber liquid and a small box, which I assumed contained tea bags. He took a swig of the amber liquid before he got to work. A few moments later the hut was full of the sounds of sausage sizzling on the frying pan, emitting a smell that made my stomach rumble from hunger. I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten.

'Come on now both of ya.' Hagrid said, ushering each of us to take a seat either side of him on the sofa. I just managed to squeeze in as he handed me a plate with four sausages on it and a steaming mug of tea.

'Thank you,' Harry and I said at the same time, causing the giant to chuckle.

'Don't touch anything he gives you Dudley.' Uncle Vernon snapped to his son, who I noticed was starting to fidget as the smell of food started to waft throughout the hut.

Hagrid chuckled darkly; 'Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' any more, Dursley, don' worry.'

Harry and I ate the sausages in silence, and I honestly couldn't remember the last time I tasted something so wonderful, but I didn't know if that was because I was just so hungry. When we were finished, and half of our tea had been drunk, Harry and I shared a look, both realizing at the same time we still didn't really know who he was.

'I'm sorry, but we still don't really know who you are.' Harry murmured after a while as I took another sip of tea.

Hagrid took a giant sip of tea and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his gaze moving to Harry as he spoke, 'just call me Hagrid, everyone does. And like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts- yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.'

Harry and I shared a confused look over the giant's lap before I answered for us, 'Sorry but we've never heard anything of Hogwarts.'

Hagrid looked shocked as he read the sincere expressions on our faces, before he looked over to the Dursley's and his gaze darkened.

'It's them that should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't getting' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeah never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?' Hagrid wondered, looking in between the both of us.

Harry and I shared another confused look before Harry answered for us, 'All what?'

'ALL WHAT?' Hagrid thundered, 'now wait jus' one second!' He leapt to his feet and I slid over on the sofa so I was now sitting next to Harry. Hagrid took two steps and he was stood in front of the Dursley's who were cowering in the corner.

'Do you mean to ter tell me that these two kids- these two kids- knows nothin' abou'- ANYTHING?'

I felt a little offended at that, and I could tell Harry did too- after all we still went to school and I was the top of all of my classes. Doing homework was a safe haven for me in the long nights we spend locked in our cupboard. Harry's marks weren't bad either.

'Actually Hayley is the top of every class and my marks aren't that bad either, especially in math.' Harry defended.

Hagrid simply waved his hand dismissively, 'not about that, about _our_ world. Our world. I mean _your_ world. _My_ world. _Yer parents world.'_

'What world?' I asked, getting more and more confused by the minute.

Hagrid's eyes looked wild as he glared at Uncle Vernon, 'DURSLEY!' They all cowered even more into the corner as Hagrid's gaze returned to us, softening as it did, 'but yeh must know about yer mum and dad,' he said. 'I mean, they're famous. _You're famous._ Both of you.'

'W-what?' I said, dumbfounded.

'Our parents weren't famous were they?' Harry asked, his gaze briefly flitting over to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in the corner.

'Yeh don' know what yeh _are?'_ Hagrid sounded bewildered as he ran his hands through his bushy beard and hair.

'Stop!' Uncle Vernon shouted before Harry and I could answer, 'Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell them anything!'

Uncle Vernon's brief bought of courage died just as quickly when Hagrid's furious gaze moved over to him.

'You never told them? Never told them what was in their letter that Dumbledore left with them? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it Dursley! An' you've kept it from them all these years?' Hagrid thundered.

'Kept what from us?' I asked eagerly.

'STOP I FORBID YOU!' Uncle Vernon sounded panicked, but Hagrid just crouched in front of us both, taking one of my hands and one of Harry's in one of his own.

'Harry, yer a wizard. And Hayley, yer a witch.' Hagrid murmured softly.

Silence followed Hagrid's confession as we both stared at him bewildered; Harry was the first to recover from the shock.

'I'm a what?' He gasped.

'A wizard o' course.' Hagrid murmured, sitting on the other side of me on the sofa, it groaned under his weight but he didn't seem to care, 'an' I'd wager yer both thumpin' good ones too. Well, when you've been trained up a bit, o' course. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time you both read yer letters.'

We both stretched out a hand, ready to receive the letters we had been denied for so long. When I received the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green ink to _Miss H. Potter, The Floor Beside Her Brother, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea,_ I had never been more excited. Harry and I shared a look before we tore open the envelope.

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

 _Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Miss Potter,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1_ _September. We await your owl no later than 31 July._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Harry and I shared an amazed and cautiously excited look before we looked over to Hagrid.

'What does it mean they await our owl?' I asked, though I had a pretty good idea, I just didn't know if it was possible.

'Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me!' Hagrid said, standing from the sofa once more and rummaging through his over coat, pulling out an owl a moment later- a real live rather ruffled looking owl- and a roll of parchment and a quill. Harry and I leaned forward to read the note as he wrote it:

 _Dear Mr Dumbledore,_

 _Given Harry and Hayley their letters. Taking them to buy their things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're well._

 _Hagrid._

He rolled up the note as soon as he finished it, gave it to the owl, who clamped it in its beak, went to the door and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as if he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. But then again I supposed it was normal for him and his world.

I noticed Harry's mouth was hanging open and I elbowed him gently, nodding towards his mouth to bring it to his attention. It snapped shut quickly.

'Where was I?' Hagrid wondered, but it seemed that Uncle Vernon had found his voice once again as he stepped far enough forward to be illuminated by the firelight.

'They are not going.' He said, though he didn't sound very confident.

'I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop em,' Hagrid grunted.

'A what?' Harry asked, interested.

'A Muggle. It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on.' Hagrid explained, eyeing the Dursley's with disdain.

'We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to all that rubbish!' Uncle Vernon screeched, 'swore we'd stamp it out of them! A Wizard and a Witch indeed!'

I flinched, recognizing the tone he was using; whenever he shouted like that Harry and I were to expect a beating. Harry's arm wound around my shoulders and pulled me to his chest a little, offering me comfort. It was an action that didn't go unnoticed by Hagrid.

'You knew? You _knew_ and you never told us?' Harry asked, sounding angry.

'Knew?' Aunt Petunia spat, disgust clouding her tone, 'of course we knew! How couldn't you be with my dratted sister being what she was? Oh she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that- that _school-_ and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were _proud_ of having a witch in the family!'

She stopped to draw in a deep breath, just when I thought she was finished she surprised me and carried on, as if she had been holding it all in for years.

'Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you two, of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as- as- _abnormal_ \- and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with the both of you!'

Harry and I shared a look at her words, I noticed he had gone very pale and I wondered if I had as well. As soon as we could formulate words we both shouted together.

'Blown up? You told us they died in a car crash!' Our word choice didn't differ, in that moment, despite how different we looked; it was easy to tell that we were in fact twins.

'CAR CRASH!' Hagrid roared, making his presence known once again, 'how could a car crash kill Lily and James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry an' Hayley Potter not knowin' their story when every kid in our world knows their names!'

'But why?' Harry asked and I added to his question with one of my own, 'what happened?'

Suddenly, Hagrid wasn't angry anymore, but his eyes crinkled with what looked like worry and he started to fidget as if he were anxious.

'What is it, Hagrid?' I said, my voice gently as I squeezed his hand in encouragement, well I tried to; his hand was so large I only managed to squeeze two fingers but he understood what I was trying to do and he awarded me with a soft smile that crinkled the corners of his black eyes.

'There was this wizard who went… bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…' Hagrid gulped, seeming to struggle to say the name.

I squeezed his fingers again and after a deep breath he carried on, 'his name was… _Voldemort._ Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too- some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry, Hayley. Didn't know who ter trust didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him- an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then anyway. Now yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' Girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get em' on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.'

Hagrid paused to take a deep breath, looking at our faces for a moment before he continued.

'Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em… maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Hallowe'en ten years ago. You was both just a year old. He came ter yer house an'- an'-.' Hagrid suddenly pulled out a dirty handkerchief with the hand I wasn't holding and blew his nose, loudly.

'Sorry,' he said, 'but it's that sad- knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find- anyway- You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then- an'- this is the real myst'ry of the thing- he tried to kill the both of you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that scar on yer forehead, Harry? Or how you got that scar on the back of yer neck, Hayley? Those are no ordinary cuts. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh- but it didn't work on either of you, an' that's why yer famous. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except the both of you, an' he killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age- the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts- an' you two was only babies an' you _lived._ '

As Hagrid's story came to a close, I suddenly didn't feel as if I were in the hut anymore, but I was being blinded by the green light that had haunted my dreams on multiple occasions, but this time I could hear something I had never heard before. The sound of a baby crying and a cold, mechanical laugh. I blinked, thankfully returning to the present, I looked over to Harry and noticed he looked like he was forcing himself to return to the hut, too. I released Hagrid's hand and took Harry's instead, squeezing it gently to let him know I understood what had just happened to him.

'What a load of rubbish!' Uncle Vernon suddenly shouted, both me and Harry jumped, I didn't know about my twin but I had definitely forgotten they were there.

'There's definitely something _weird_ about you two, nothing a few more beatings wouldn't have cured.' Uncle Vernon paused seeming to gather himself and his temper, while I took a step closer to Hagrid, pulling Harry with me; I didn't know why I trusted him so fast, but I did.

'You will _not_ be going to that school, do you understand me? I will not pay for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic tricks!' Uncle Vernon shouted, but his momentary bravery was diminished when Hagrid took a step towards him, looking angrier than I had ever seen him. He pulled out an old looking pink umbrella and pointed it at Uncle Vernon like a weapon.

' _NEVER_ INSULT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE IN FRONT OF ME,' each word dripped with a threatening promise that made Uncle Vernon cower back in the corner, hoping he would calm down I supposed, but Hagrid swung the umbrella and pointed it to the youngest Dursley, a streak of violet light shot out the end and hit Dudley. The next second he was squealing, jumping up and down on the spot with his hands holding his bottom. I noticed a curly, pink pig's tail sticking out of his trousers. Harry and I shared an amused look while Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia ushered their son into the other room, slamming the door behind them, each of them shouting in horror.

Hagrid stroked his beard, looking noticeably calmer and a little regretful, 'I shouldn't have lost me temper. I'd appreciate if yer didn't tell anyone about that. I'm- er- not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff- one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take the job-.'

'Why aren't you supposed to do magic?' Harry asked, curious.

'Oh, well- I was at Hogwarts myself but I- er- got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore.'

'Don't worry, Hagrid, we won't tell anyone- that was _brilliant!_ ' I assured him, squeezing two of his fingers again, Hagrid gave me a warm smile and took a seat on the sofa again.

'You are exactly like yer mum, ya know.' Hagrid commented, taking the poker he had pulled out earlier and shuffling the hot coals around.

'I am?' I asked, eager for any information for our parents.

'Yer sure are, an' you're both brave an' you look our for each other. Yer parents would be proud.' Hagrid stated firmly, looking a little emotional.

I felt my own eyes cloud over with tears as I felt the empty space in my heart throb painfully, 'I wish I could have known them.'

'Me too.' Harry agreed, his arm winding around my shoulders as he held me close.

'Yer parents loved yer both so much. An' if there were a way for them to be with ya both now then they would be. It aint fair.' Hagrid said sadly.

'What happened to him?' Harry asked suddenly, Hagrid looked surprised but I knew who he was talking about.

'To the man who killed our parents. What happened to him?' I clarified.

'That's a good question. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you both. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin' more an' more powerful- why'd he go? Some say he died. Codswallop in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of em' came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back. Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you two finished him, Harry, Hayley. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on- _I_ dunno what it was, no one does- but somethin' about the both of you stumped him, all right.'

Hagrid was looking at the both of us with warmth and _respect_ in his eyes and I felt myself fidgeting underneath his gaze. I didn't feel like we deserved such recognition for something we didn't even mean to do. Surely there had been a mistake. There was no way that we were the ones that Hagrid was looking for. I felt my heart sink as the hope that had flickered when Hagrid had entered the hut was snuffed out. I looked over to Harry and the disappointment in his eyes told me he was feeling the same way.

'I-I don't think you have the right twins, Hagrid.' Harry admitted quietly.

'I don't thank we are the witch and wizard you're looking for,' I agreed, looking down to the old, worn floorboards. To my surprise, Hagrid chuckled. Harry and I both shared a confused look before we looked over to the giant on the sofa as he explained.

'Not a witch, not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?'

I frowned, thinking over the weird things that had happened to me. When Harry and I were running from Dudley and his brutish friends on the way home from school, and we were suddenly out of their reach… when Aunt Petunia had given me a horrific bowl hair cut that made me look like a boy and made me dread going to school- I was already teased about looking like a boy already because of Dudley's hand-me-downs, so I had been incredibly relieved when it had grown back overnight. When Uncle Vernon was shoved off Harry in the hallway, when the glass had disappeared at the zoo.

Harry and I smiled at each other and looked over to Hagrid.

'See?' Said Hagrid, 'Harry an' Hayley Potter not a witch and wizard- you wait you'll be right famous at Hogwarts.'

I couldn't quite picture that happening, if I was honest and I wasn't sure I wanted it to either. I was used to being invisible and I quite liked it that way.

'It's gettin' late an we've got lots ter do tomorrow,' Hagrid murmured, 'gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that.'

He moved from the couch and gestured for us both to lay on it, when we did he took off his overcoat and laid it over the both of us.

'You can both kip under that. Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets.' Hagrid smiled kindly before laying down on the floor in front of the fireplace. I snuggled into Harry's chest, my arm around his waist while his arm wound around my shoulders. I fell asleep quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I woke early in the morning, but I refused to open my eyes, afraid that what had happened yesterday was just a dream. But when the smell of freshly cut grass and the forest washed over me, my heart skipped a beat. I dared myself to peak at the scenery around me and I nearly squealed in excitement when I saw that I was lying on the sofa on Harry's chest, and Hagrid was still asleep in front of the fireplace. I grinned so widely that my cheeks hurt. Harry was still asleep and I managed to climb off the sofa without waking him. I wasn't sure whether to wake Hagrid or let him sleep, I was still pondering what to do when I heard a distinctive _tap tap tap_ against one of the windows.

'What is that?' Harry groaned, sitting up on the sofa and rubbing his eyes sleepily.

'I'm not sure,' I murmured, edging over to the window after a pause and a deep breath, I opened it, gasping when a dark brown owl flew in, with what looked like a newspaper in its beak.

'Whoa,' Harry said, jumping up off the sofa when the owl started attacking the overcoat he was still under after it had dropped the newspaper beside Hagrid.

'What do you want, little fella?' I asked it gently, and then a light bulb seemed click over my head, 'maybe it want's to be paid.'

'What?' Harry didn't sound convinced, but when the owl started squawking in frustration Harry started rummaging through the pockets for some money. Eventually he found a brown leather drawstring pouch filled with weird looking coins.

'What am I supposed to give it?' Harry asked, looking at the bronze, silver and golden coins in astonishment.

'Five Knuts. The little bronze ones.' Hagrid said sleepily, I jumped; I hadn't realized he was awake. Harry followed his instruction and counted out five of the bronze coins, putting them into the pouch attached to the owl's leg. The owl hooted in thanks and then flew out of the still open window.

'What are the other ones?' I asked him, curious.

'The golden ones are Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles and the bronze are Knuts.' Hagrid said, accepting the pouch Harry offered him and shrugging on his overcoat, 'we should get going; we have lots to buy.'

Harry and I shared an alarmed look, 'erm, Hagrid we don't have any money.' I told him.

'And you heard Uncle Vernon, he won't pay for anything.' Harry added, his voice sad.

'I wouldn't worry about that. You didn't really think your mum and dad left you with nothin' did yer?' Hagrid said, looking in between the both of us, his eyes sad when he saw our amazed expressions. 

'But if their house was destroyed-,' Harry started, but Hagrid cut him off. 

'They didn't keep their gold in the house, Harry! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage the both of yer, they're not bad cold- an' I wouldn' say no the a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither.'

Harry and I both asked a different question at the same time.

'Wizard's have banks?' Harry asked.

'Who runs the banks?' I wondered.

'Just the one. Gringotts.' Hagrid answered Harry and then turned to me, 'it's run by Goblins.'

Harry dropped the sausage he was holding, but I just carried on eating, not as surprised. I was starting to learn that I needed to go with the flow. The world our parents had been a part of was obviously completely different than the one Harry and I were used to, and I wanted to embrace it.

' _Goblins?'_ Harry exclaimed.

'Yeah- so yer would be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with Goblins. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe- 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business.' Hagrid looked proud about being trusted with such a task, 'he usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' the two o' you- gettin' things from Gringotts- knows he can trust me, see. You two got everythin'? Come on then.'

Harry and I followed Hagrid out of the hut after he pulled the door down again; he didn't bother to pick it up this time. When we reached the boat Harry and I had rowed out of here, it was full of water from the storm. My muscles still ached from yesterday, with a shared sigh Harry and I flipped the boat over, tipping the water onto the gravel. We had just all sat in it, ready to when Hagrid spoke.

'Seems such a long way ter row,' he commented, looking towards the shore, 'if yer promise not ter mention it, I can speed this up with a bit o' magic.'

'We promise!' Harry and I said together. I was both eager to see more magic and relieved that we didn't have to row the boat such a distance again.

Hagrid nodded and tapped the boat twice with his umbrella. The boat stopped rowing itself immediately, taking us to shore at a great speed. As we sailed towards shore, Hagrid read the paper that the owl had delivered to him that morning, _The Daily Prophet._ While Harry quizzed him, I didn't talk much but I listened to every word, enraptured. Hagrid told us about the protective enchantments and spells protecting the vaults and the rumors of dragons protecting the high security vaults. He told us about how the bank was hundreds of miles under London, and if someone actually did make it past the security measures, they wouldn't be able to get out again and they would probably starve.

Just when I didn't think it could get anymore interesting, he told us about the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Dumbledore had been asked to do the job but he didn't want to leave Hogwarts, but he did offer advice to the current Minister. Apparently the job mostly involved keeping magic a secret from Muggles, to avoid witches and wizards being pestered.

We reached shore after twenty minutes and headed towards the station. People stared at Hagrid, I assumed they were amazed at how tall and wide he was, and I couldn't exactly blame them. He was a giant, especially compared to me and Harry, but I found that oddly comforting. When we reached the train station, Hagrid loudly rejoiced when he saw that there was a train for London leaving in five minutes. He pulled out some money and handed it to Harry, instructing him to buy our tickets because he didn't understand Muggle money. When Harry returned we made our way to the correct platform and took our seats with a minute to spare. The journey to London was mostly spent with Hagrid complaining at how small the seats were and pointing to random objects and saying "ah, the things Muggles come up with!" Needless to say he got a few funny looks but I didn't care, I was so excited to start getting the necessities for our first year at Hogwarts. At one point Hagrid pulled out some wool and started knitting adding a royal blue to the hot pink train he had so far. It looked like he was making a gigantic scarf.

'Have yer both still got yer letters?' Hagrid asked us both, not looking up from his knitting.

We both gave vocal confirmation and Hagrid murmured, 'good. It's got everythin' yer gonna need in it.'

When we reached London, Harry and I both re opened our letters and looked at the other pieces of paper that we hadn't noticed the night before and read:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

Uniform

 _First-year students will require:_

 _Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

 _One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

Set Books

 _All students have a copy of each of the following:_

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk_

A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling_

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger_

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander_

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble_

Other Equipment

 _1 wand_

 _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

 _1 set glass or crystal phials_

 _1 telescope_

 _1 set brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

'They don't hurt the dragon's for the gloves do they?' I asked, my brow crinkled in concern.

'No, sweet girl, they don't- they take it when they shed their skin. No harm comes to them at all.' Hagrid promised me, his eyes crinkled in a soft smile, 'I've always loved dragons.'

'Me too. I've always wished they were real.' I admitted; I had always found something beautiful in the companionship of a dragon. The idea of a dragon choosing someone to bond with and remain loyal to sounded amazing.

'I've always wanted one, since I were a boy.' Hagrid revealed.

'You _want_ a dragon?' Harry sounded astounded, as we stuck close behind Hagrid; the crowds were parting easily for him so it was easier to just follow. I noticed that the streets were busy, and I saw a lot of ordinary shops: cinemas, book stores, cafés and high end clothing shops. None of them looked like places we could buy a magical wand. Before I could start to doubt what was actually happening, Hagrid suddenly stopped in front of a run down looking pub.

'Sure do. Ah, here we are!'

The sign that hung over it read: _The Leaky Cauldron._ I noticed that everyone else was looking to the bookshop that came before it and the record shop that followed without stopping on the pub at all.

'This is it. The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place.' Hagrid informed us before pushing the door open.

After Harry and I shared a disbelieving look, we followed him. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, it was a lot darker on the inside than I was expecting. For a famous place it seemed particularly unkempt and scruffy. A few women and a few men were smoking pipes, leaving a cloud of smoke in the air that made me cough. The bar man, and the rest of the pub came to an abrupt halt upon Hagrid's entrance, so my cough cut across the silence and drew attention to me.

'The usual Hagrid?' The bar man asked once the chatter had picked up again.

'Not today, Tom. I'm on official Hogwarts business.' He moved me and Harry in front of him, 'got to take Mister and Miss Potter to buy their supplies.'

'Good Lord- can it be-,' the bar man stared at us both as if we were the most fascinating things in the world, when I noticed that the bar had gone completely silent again, I wanted to hide behind Hagrid but my feet wouldn't move. Harry noticed my discomfort and took my hand, squeezing it gently.

'Harry and Hayley Potter!' The barman whispered, easily heard in the silent bar.

Before I could even blink, Tom was in front of us, taking Harry's free hand in a handshake and then mine, 'Welcome back. Welcome back.'

I didn't know what to say to that, and honestly with everyone in the room staring at us I felt a little put on the spot. One of the women who had been smoking a pipe was still doing so even though it had gone out. Hagrid looked _proud._ As if they planned it, there was the sound of scraping chairs against the floor as everyone stood up in unison. A line formed as everyone queued up to shake hands with us.

'Doris Crockford, Mr and Miss Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last.'

'So proud of you both, I'm just so proud.'

'I've always wanted to shake your hands- I'm all of a flutter.'

'Delighted, Mr and Miss Potter, just can't tell you. Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle.'

'We've seen you before!' I said as his appearance registered with me, I smiled gently when his top hat fell off in his excitement.

'You bowed to us once in a shop,' Harry agreed, clearly remembering as well.

'They remember me! Did you hear that! They remember me! I cannot believe it!' Dedalus Diggle cried, looking around at everyone in the bar.

We shook so many hands, I kept losing count. Eventually a pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching and I squeezed Harry's hand tighter, for whatever reason he was making me nervous.

'Oh, hello Professor Quirrell!' Hagrid said brightly, 'Harry, Hayley, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts.'

Harry held out his hand and Professor Quirrell took it, his gloved hand shaking Harry's once before letting go. I didn't offer him mine and he seemed relieved.

'What kind of magic do you teach, Professor?' Harry asked, curious; I could tell he wasn't as apprehensive of him as I was.

'D-Defense Against the D-Dark Arts. N-not that either of you need it eh?' he laughed somewhat nervously, 'I-I expect you're here to buy y-your equipment? I-I'm here f-for a book on V-Vampire's myself.' He stuttered.

Much to my relief, the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell hog us for too long- I felt bad at being so distant towards him, but I couldn't help it- he gave me a bad feeling. Eventually, Hagrid managed to drag us away from everyone else and out into the alley at the back.

'Told yeh didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh- mind you, he's usually tremblin'.' Hagrid mused, pulling his umbrella out of his coat.

'Is he always that nervous?' Harry wondered.

'Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience… they say he met vampires in the Black Forest and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag- never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject.' Hagrid answered. We all slipped into a comfortable silence as Hagrid seemed to be counting the bricks on the wall, muttering incoherently to himself. I could see that Harry's head was swimming with all of the information he had just given him; I myself was learning to just roll with it. Or I was trying to, I'll admit when Hagrid tapped the wall three times with his umbrella and it started to quiver and form into an archway, even I was a little surprised and amazed. I didn't think I would ever tire of seeing magic. Ever.

'Welcome,' Hagrid said, sounding excited himself, 'to Diagon Alley.'

When he saw our amazed expressions, he grinned like a cat that had caught the canary. We all stepped over the threshold, only to watch in incredulity as it turned back into a wall again. Once it was a wall again, my head whipped back around, taking in every detail of the street. It was crawling with witches and wizards, golden balls and sparks shooting through the air. I could hear the hoots of owls coming from one of the shops; I saw cauldrons on the outside of another. One thing that caught my attention the most was the bookstore. I could feel my fingers itch with the urge to seep up every ounce of knowledge on this new world that I possibly could. I would wager that was going to be the store I would do the most damage in, and Harry grinned at me, as if he were reading my mind. There were shops selling parchment, ink, quills, and ones selling robes, potion bottles, eel's eyes and bat's spleen. We both gasped when we noticed another shop that had a very sleek looking broom in the window, there were a group of kids huddled in front of it, staring longingly.

'It's the fastest broom in the world! The Nimbus Two Thousand!' One of the kids gasped in wonder.

'Yeah, I can see yer both excited to start shoppin' but we need ter get yer money first.' Hagrid said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, and mine as he led us towards a building that looked like it was completely made of marble.

'Gringotts.' Hagrid announced.

Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was-

'That's a goblin,' said Hagrid quietly as we walked up the white stone steps towards him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry, half a head shorter than me. The goblin bowed as we walked through the bronze doors, where we were met with a second pair that was silver. We all paused to read the engraving:

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed_

 _Of what awaits for the sin of greed,_

 _For those who take, but do not earn,_

 _Must pay most dearly in their turn,_

 _So if you seek beneath our floors_

 _A treasure that was never yours,_

 _Thief, you have been warned, beware_

 _Of finding more than treasure here._

'Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it,' said Hagrid.

The silver doors opened for us after a moment and after walking through those ones we found ourselves in a vast marble hall. There were an inordinate amount of goblins sat behind counters, filling out paperwork, measuring jewels on brass scales or inspecting them with an eyeglass. Harry and I followed Hagrid over to a counter, where in which a goblin looked up from his paper work looking particularly annoyed, but Hagrid ignored his expression.

'Morning. We've come ter take some money outta Hayley and Harry Potter's safe.' Hagrid said, sounding confident.

The goblin peered at us over the counter before speaking, 'I see. And do the Potter's have their key?'

'Got it here somewhere.' Hagrid announced before he started rummaging through his pockets, I raised my eyebrows in amusement when he pulled out a gold fish swimming around in a plastic bag, he moved to place it on the counter but I took it from him and held it gently.

'Ah, there's the little devil,' Hagrid said, holding up a little golden key.

The goblin took it and inspected it closely for a moment before saying, 'that seems to be in order.'

Hagrid held out an envelope I hadn't noticed he had pulled out and said, 'An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore. It's about You-Know-What in vault You-Know-Which.'

The goblin read the letter carefully, his expression becoming grave as he finished it, 'very well. I'll get someone to escort you to both vaults.'

He shouted a name I didn't catch because I was too busy helping Hagrid put things back into his overcoat. I handed him the goldfish last, weirdly sad to be parted from it, and Hagrid noticed.

'His name is Earl.' He told me, giving Earl a smile before putting him back into his pocket.

'It suits him.' I smiled, following after the goblin that came over to help us. He led us through one of the doors against the far wall. We were led into a corridor made up of stone and brick; in the back of my mind I couldn't help thinking it was almost medieval. The goblin, who was named Griphook, gestured for us all to pile into a carriage, I half expected it to tilt when Hagrid got in, but when he didn't I realized that this was a magic carriage we were dealing with. When we started to move I gripped Harry's hand, hard. It almost reminded me of a roller-coaster- not that I'd ever been on one, but I'd seen drawings, videos, illustrations and I'd heard other kids at school talking about it. It had never sounded appealing to me, and after this experience I was sure that I hated them.

'Thank god.' I murmured when we finally came to a stop; Harry and Hagrid chuckled at my reaction but we all clambered out after Griphook, he led us to vault six hundred and twenty seven and handed Hagrid the lamp he was holding.

'Key please,' He held his hand out, and Hagrid handed it to him.

Griphook lifted up the key guard and inserted the key, turning it until a distinct _click_ could be heard. When the door opened, my jaw dropped open in shock, along with Harry's. It was _full_ of Galleons, upon Galleons. I had no idea how much this would have been in pounds but I was willing to bet it was a _lot._ I couldn't believe it. From the looks of it neither could Harry.

'I told yeh, your parents took care of yer.' Hagrid said proudly, urging us to step in and take as many Galleons as we needed.

I had no idea how much we would end up needing, and neither did Harry, so we just piled as many into our pockets as we could, and went back to the carriage. I had almost forgotten that Hagrid needed to collect something to, but when we reached vault seven hundred and thirteen, my interest and curiosity was peaked. The Goblin didn't use a key to open this one, favoring his fingernail instead, dragging it straight down the centre of the door, the patterns moving away and clicking as he went. When he reached the bottom, the door opened just enough for us to see a small object wrapped in brown packaging and string. To me, the jagged shape suggested it was a stone, but I couldn't tell for sure.

'What is that, Hagrid?' I asked him, curious as we went back to the carriage once more.

'I can't tell yer that, Hayley. Top Secret.' He said, patting his chest where he had stormed the item in his inner pocket.

'I understand.' I said, giving him a small smile.

I was relieved when we made it out of the bank; I didn't know why but I felt suffocated in there.

'So where to first?' Harry asked, excited.

'How about you two get yerselves fitted fer yer robes. I have another errand ter run, but I'll meet yer both there in about thirty minutes. You'll just be finishin' up by then.' Hagrid said, giving us a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes before he wondered off down the lane.

'Well, let's get this over with.' I murmured, linking my arm through Harry's as we made our way to the shop Hagrid pointed out: _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions._ I smiled warmly at the small round witch behind the counter, which grew even more when I noticed Harry looked nervous.

'Hogwarts, dear?' She asked, her smile kind.

'Yes, Ma'am. We both need fitting, if you have the time.' I said, my arm tightening in Harry's as I tried to soothe him, why he was freaking out about this, I didn't know.

'Of course, we actually have another boy in at the moment-,' she started, leading us towards the back where a pale boy with platinum hair was being measured and having his robes adjusted by another witch.

'We can come back.' Harry said, speaking for the first time.

'Nonsense. I can measure one of you and when Larissa is finished with this young boy she can do the other.' She assured us.

'That sounds great.' I said, stepping up onto the other podium; with Harry's nerves I knew he wouldn't want to go first.

Madam Malkin pulled some black robes over my head and started to pat them down, measuring the length.

'Hello.' The boy next to me said, eyeing me up and down; I could practically see the judgment in his eyes, 'Hogwarts too?'

'Yep,' I said, popping the 'p'.

'My father's buying my books and my mother's looking at wands,' said the boy, sounding almost bored, 'then I'm going to drag them off and look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow.'

Harry and I shared a look and I could tell we were thinking the same thing: this guy was another version of Dudley.

'You sound like you're used to that.' I commented dryly; I wasn't usually one for confrontation, but something about this guy just… irked me.

'Excuse me?' he sounded aghast.

'Unless you're hard of hearing I'm sure you heard me.' I retorted, biting my lip to hold back a laugh at his shocked expression.

'How _dare_ you, my father will hear about-,' he looked even more affronted when I cut him off.

'I don't give a rats ass who your father is. Be nice to me and I'll be nice to you. It's as simple as that, really. Act all entitled and superior just because of who your father is, is _not_ being nice.' I felt like I was talking to a child.

The blonde headed boy was stunned to silence, the only sounds that could be heard in the room were the witches trimming fabric and muttering to themselves, and Harry trying- and failing- to suppress a snigger.

'Do you have a broom?' The boy asked eventually, seeming to try again.

'No. But I saw the Nimbus two thousand on my way over here. It looks awesome.' I admitted, wondering if I myself would be able to smuggle in a broom, but I knew I didn't want to make any negative impressions in a new world by bringing something we were specifically told we weren't allowed.

'Yes. It's supposed to be the best broom in the world. That was exactly the broom I was thinking of getting.' The boy replied, looking me up and down as if he were seeing me in a different light, though I couldn't be sure- for an eleven year old his expression was impenetrable.

'Do you play Quidditch?' The boy asked after the witch attending to him started measuring his final robe. Madam Malkin was on my second.

'No, do you?' I asked, not wanting to divulge that I didn't really know what Quidditch was.

'Yes- father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?'

'You're doing it again. Pretentiousness isn't exactly a brilliant quality, and I doubt you'll make any _real_ friends with it.' I stepped from the podium, Madam Malkin was now finished with me, and Harry stood and took my place reluctantly.

'As long as my friends are none of _those_ people I don't care.' The boy sneered at me before he turned to my brother.

'None of what people?' I asked despite myself.

'Mudbloods- you know people who have no magical parents. Utterly disgusting if you ask me-,' he started but I once again cut him off, furious when I understood what he meant.

'Well, no one did asked you. And what is the problem with someone coming from a non magical family?' I asked, smiling devilishly when he looked at me, 'afraid someone who didn't grow up in the world of magic will best you?'

'As if a mudblood-,' He started again, and when I interrupted him this time he turned an interesting shade of red.

'Stop saying that you arrogant, conceited, entitled, pretentious-,' this time _I_ was cut off by someone knocking at the window, when I saw Hagrid holding three chocolate and strawberry ice creams I seemed to deflate, my anger leaving me with a deep sigh.

'Jay-,' I started but he cut me off, his blue eyes soft.

'It's okay, Ley. I won't be long.'

'How much do I owe you for my robes, Madam Malkin?' I asked her politely.

'Three Galleons, dear. That's for everything, your winter coat, gloves, hat and robes.' She smiled warmly at me, handing me a rather large brown-papered bag.

'Thank you so much, you're an angel.' I told her, I counted out five Galleons and gave them to her, refusing to take the extra two back.

'Hayley, are you alright, sweetheart?' Hagrid asked, noticing my unhappy expression as I joined him in front of the glass.

I accepted the ice cream from him with a thank you and a small, genuine smile, 'it's nothing, Hagrid. Just a boy in there spouting nonsense about mudbloods-,'

'He _what?_ ' Hagrid sounded furious, but I calmed him with a hand to his arm.

'I told him it was a load of rubbish and I was just about to curse him into next week when you knocked on the window,' I admitted with a small grin, which grew when Hagrid laughed, ' he was awful, even worse than Dudley and I didn't think that was possible.'

'You'll meet a few like that, unfortunately Hayley. Though maybe I shud start callin' yer red now.' He chuckled again and I laughed loudly.

I waited until Harry joined us and was almost finished with his ice cream to ask a question that had been burning in my mind since the blonde boy had mentioned it.

'Hagrid, what's Quidditch?'

'Ah, I keep forgettin' you don't know about wizarding things.' He shook his head at himself, 'Quidditch is a sport played on brooms. A bit complicated to explain to someone who don't know what it is.'

'It sounds fun.' Harry said, and I nodded in agreement, passing my waffle cone over to Hagrid when I noticed he finished his.

'It is, you'll have ter try out when yer old enough.' Hagrid smiled.

'What houses are there, in Hogwarts, I mean.' Harry asked this time and I listened eagerly, wanting to know too.

'There are four houses in Hogwarts; Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.' Hagrid recited.

'I like the sound of Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw.' I mused, but I would make a better decision when I knew more.

'I reckon you'll both be Gryffindor. Courageous house that one, I'm tellin yer.'

'What about the others?' Harry asked.

'All are fine, well 'cept Slytherin, of course. There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad that weren't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one.'

'Voldemort was in Slytherin?' Harry asked, his blue eyes shining with worry, and I knew he was concerned that he would be sorted into that house.

'I don't know if I agree with that, Hagrid. Surely that everyone who is bad isn't in Slytherin; being a bad person isn't dependent upon your house.' I disagreed softly, not wanting Hagrid to be mad at me.

'You are wise girl, Hayley Lily Potter.' I dared to look up when Hagrid's voice sounded soft; when his eyes matched I smiled.

'Thank you, Hagrid.' I murmured.

The next shop we went to was my own personal heaven: _Flourish and Blotts._ It was a bookstore and it was full of all kinds of books I had never seen before. I wondered off on my own, picking out all of the required books first, when I had all of those I started to branch out and looked at all of the others that my hands could get to. I noticed _Hogwarts: A History_ and picked that one up without even second guessing it, figuring it would be nice to have more information on the school I would be attending. After about half an hour, Hagrid and Harry found me; I could barely see them with all the books I was holding. Harry shook his head fondly and Hagrid looked a little surprised, but took half of them off me without comment, nodding in acknowledgment when I thanked him.

'Do you have everythin'?' Hagrid asked.

'Actually there was another section I wanted to-,' I started but Harry cut me off with a laugh.

'Ley, you have more than enough books to last you a year. If you need anymore we can come back, okay?' He reasoned with me and I reluctantly nodded my assent.

When the cashier told me that my books cost twenty five galleons and twenty sickles, Harry's jaw dropped. I counted out twenty six and told the woman to keep the change. After the bookstore we went and bought almost everything else; our pewter cauldrons (though Harry wanted solid gold, but Hagrid refused saying it specifically said pewter on our list), crystal phials, our brass scales and our telescopes.

'We've almost got everythin'.' Hagrid said, looking at Harry's list, 'yer just need yer wands- oh and I haven't got you yer birthday presents yet.'

'Oh, that's okay Hagrid,' I said, the same time that Harry said, 'you don't have to.'

'Nonsense, I have ter get you sommert.' He waved off our protests, thankfully not commenting on the fact that we were both bright red.

'When's your birthday Hagrid?' I asked thoughtfully.

'The Sixth of December.' He replied, seeming surprised by the question, I nodded and committed the date to memory, 'I'll get yer both an owl, I think. They're very useful.'

Twenty minutes later, we left the Owl Emporium, which had been full of so many kinds of owls; barn, snowy, tawny, all in different colors that you would never see in the Muggle world. It was amazing. Harry was carrying a cage with a beautiful snowy owl that was asleep with its head under its wing. My owl could have been the snowy owls twin, except her fur was a midnight black, it's amber eyes stood out brilliantly. I had known that she was the one I wanted as soon as I saw her. She seemed to have felt the same way as she started clucking affectionately at me and flapping her wings as much as she could in the space of her cage. That surprised the owner of the Emporium; apparently she detested everyone who even tried to get near her, himself included. It was meant to be.

I had hugged Hagrid hard in the store, smiling when he turned a little red, but his smile was soft as he told me, and then Harry, not to mention it.

'Right, last thing is yer wands.' He said as we walked down the street, 'you'll want Ollivanders best place ter get em'.' He assured us, leading us to the small, black framed shop with _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC._ In peeling golden letters written above the door. The sound of a bell tinkled somewhere at the back of the shop as we stepped over the threshold. There was a huge, long counter about three feet from the door and behind it were small rectangular boxes piled to the ceiling. Hagrid wondered over to the only chair in the room, sitting down and waiting patiently. I felt goose bumps rise on my arms as I looked around; it was if there was an intense magic in the air, from the looks of his expression, Harry could feel it too.

'Good afternoon.' Said a soft voice suddenly, making me jump.

I smiled warmly when an old, pale man came into view, his pale eyes making his stare very intense.

'Hello,' Harry and I said at the same time.

'Ah, yes.' He murmured, almost too softly for me to hear, 'I thought I'd be seeing you two soon, Harry and Hayley Potter.' It was a statement of the fact, 'you're both the double of your parents. It seems like only yesterday your parents were in here buying their first wands.'

Mr Ollivander moved closer to us, and I resisted the urge to take a step back.

'You knew our parents?' I asked.

'Yes, Hayley, I remember every wand I ever sold.' Ollivander said, 'their wands chose them in this very shop.'

'Wands chose them?' Harry parroted, confused.

'Ah, yes- the want chooses the wizard Mr Potter.' Ollivander murmured, only adding to Harry's confusion.

'Now, let's get you sorted shall we?' He said rather abruptly, shuffling back around the counter and pulling our two boxes, he handed one to me and another to Harry. We both took them out and waved them, but Ollivander snatched them away instantly. He handed us another. Then another. I was starting to feel like we were going to be there for much longer than I originally thought when I noticed Ollivander's hands pause over a pair of white boxed, a startling contrast to the black ones around them. After a moment of deliberation, he pulled them out and made his way over to us. Instead of deciding which ones to give us himself, he took the lids off them both and laid them on the counter. One was long, and black while another was an oak colour, with intricate detailing flowing from the base to the tip. My hand reached for that one the same time Harry reached for the other. Ollivander seemed amused at our choices, but when a gold light shone around us both as we waved our wands, his amusement dissipated immediately.

'Curious. Very curious,' Ollivander muttered as he took the wands from us and boxed them up.

Harry and I shared a look before I asked, 'sorry, Sir. But what's curious?'

'I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the Phoenix feathers you each have in your wands came from the same animal, who gave another feather- just one other. It's curious that you should be destined for these wands, when their brother, gave you both a scar.' His tone was mysterious and almost… dark. It made goose bumps rise on my arms, and I had to fight back a feather. I heard Harry swallow audibly.

'Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from the two of you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things- terrible, yes. But great.'

'Forgive me, Mr Ollivander but I don't see how murder can be described as great in any instance.' I murmured, not liking his description of Voldemort.

'I believe it is a matter of opinion, Miss Potter,' he replied.

We paid seven galleons each for our wands and promptly left Ollivanders shop. I couldn't get out of there soon enough- he creeped me out immensely. By the time we left the shop, it was starting to get dark, and Diagon Alley was considerably less busy than it had been an hour ago, and the Leaky Cauldron was completely empty. The events of the day were starting to catch up to me and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open on the train. After a while I rested my head on Harry's shoulder, the gentle rocking of the train taking us home rocking me to sleep. In the back of my mind I heard Harry asking Hagrid something, but I was too far gone to concentrate on the words.

After we both said goodbye to Hagrid- my goodbye was a little more… reserved than Harry's. Hagrid and I both cried a little, and though Harry looked depressed, he managed to control himself better than me. After Hagrid gave us our tickets for our train to Hogwarts, he instructed us to be at platform 9 ¾ for September 1st and warned us that the train would leave at exactly eleven o'clock in the morning, so being organized was a better idea. Back at 4 Privet Drive, Harry and I were both surprised when Uncle Vernon instructed us to move into the smallest bedroom; it was originally Dudley's second bedroom. He used to use it to store toys he had broken, or ones that he didn't want in his bedroom. All of those had been cleared out, the broken thrown away and the unused put in our old cupboard. The only difference was Harry and I now had our own beds; there were two single beds crammed into the room with one small bedside table separating them. We had three single wardrobes, which in all honesty we didn't have enough stuff to fill. In our excitement Harry and I had already packed our trunks for Hogwarts, and they were ready and waiting to go at the bottom of our beds.

Dudley was now terrified of us, and now whenever we entered a room he was in, he would run away screaming. It was amusing at first, but after a while it lost its appeal; Harry and I spent most of the summer in our room. I read all the books we had bought once and then again, taking notes from each the second time, getting used to writing with a quill. I particularly loved _Hogwarts: A History_ the moving pictures and detailed information added to my excitement of the school we would be attending soon. Harry thought I was a machine; he only read one book, _A History of Magic,_ which I also found fascinating. He decided to name his owl Hedwig, after one of the wizards from the book. I myself called my beloved owl Aphrodite, for no other reason than I thought it suited her. Eventually we reached the 31st of August, and Harry and I found ourselves timidly entering the living room to ask Uncle Vernon to take us to King's Cross.

'Uncle Vernon?' Harry asked, clearing his throat to get his attention from the television.

Dudley took one look at us, screeched, and ran from the room. Uncle Vernon grunted and Aunt Petunia didn't look away from the talk show they were watching, but her posture stiffened.

'We need to be at King's Cross tomorrow… to go to… Hogwarts.' Harry stumbled over his words, and I squeezed his hand gently to offer him comfort.

Uncle Vernon grunted.

'Will you… take us?' Harry murmured.

He grunted again and Harry and I shared a look, shrugged and headed back to our bedroom without another word. That night we barely slept, instead talking about our impending adventure; we mostly discussed the different houses now that we had both read up on them. Honestly I didn't mind the sound of any of them, even Slytherin, but I thought I was most suited to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Harry liked the sound of Gryffindor the best, and he was dreading the possibility of being sorted into Slytherin, despite my reassurance that Slytherin would be just as good as the others. Just because Voldemort had been in the green house, but that didn't mean that you had to turn bad just because you were in Slytherin.

By seven o'clock our trunks were in the car and Dudley, Harry and I were in the back seats and we set off for London. We arrived at King's Cross by ten thirty, and Uncle Vernon unloaded our trunks and put them on a trolley each, along with our owls. I could tell Harry was nervous about the gesture, seeing as Uncle Vernon was never willingly kind to us, but I paid his mind games no heed and wheeled my own trolley along.

'Well, here we are- platform 9 ¾!' Uncle Vernon announced loudly, looking at the platforms labeled 9 and 10, and laughing at Harry's shocked expression, 'have fun at Hogwarts!'

They all left, laughing as they drove away.

'Harry, it's fine, we can figure this out.' I assured him, squeezing his shoulder in comfort before I released him. We both walked along the platform, looking for any others who might be going to Hogwarts just as we were. Harry eventually offered to ask the platform attendant, despite my protests- I didn't think a Muggle would appreciate us asking for a platform that didn't exist. Sure enough the attendant walked away from Harry after three minutes of talking to him, shaking his head in annoyance. Harry was just rejoining me when both of our heads whipped around in the direction of a loud voice, but it wasn't who she was that caught our attention, it was what she said.

'…Full of Muggles of course…' It was an older woman, she had five children with her, two of them twins, one with brown hair that seemed the oldest, and another boy and a girl, aside from the older one, they all had red hair and blue eyes. They also had an owl on one of their trolleys. After we shared a look, Harry and I wasted no time in following after them. Harry's jaw dropped when the oldest ran straight at the barrier between 9 and 10, but instead of witnessing a nasty collision, we saw him disappear presumably to the platform that had the Hogwarts train waiting. We saw the twins go through next and then I approached the older woman, who was clearly their mother, in a hope that she could tell us what to do.

'Excuse me,' I smiled when the older woman turned with a bright grin on her face, 'I was wondering if you could tell us how to get onto the platform?'

She looked confused as to why I said "us" until Harry came and stood at my side.

'Of course dears. Now, all you have to do is go straight through the barrier between 9 and 10. Best do it in a bit of a run, if you're nervous.' She squeezed my shoulder than Harry's before stepping back and allowing us the room to go. I gave Harry a look, indicating that he could go first, and I he did a little reluctantly. I ran right behind him, approaching the barrier much like the twins had. I held my breath as we approached the barrier, my shoulders tensing a little as I prepared for the collision… but it never came.

'It worked!' Harry sounded excited, and I laughed, exhilarated, with disbelieving shakes of our heads, we headed towards the train. We had managed to get Aphrodite and Hedwig into an empty compartment we managed to find and we were struggling with loading our trunks; I was trying to help Harry lift his in first when I accidentally dropped it onto his foot for the second time.

'Sorry!' I said, holding my hands up as if that would prove my sincerity.

'It's fine, don't worry,' Harry replied, but I could hear the pain in his voice.

'Do you two need help with those?' Someone suddenly asked.

We looked up to see the twins from earlier.

'Please!' I said immediately, my eagerness making them both chuckle. They lifted Harry's case into one overhead department and then mine into the other with no trouble at all.

'Thank you,' Harry and I said at the same time.

The twins chuckled, one said, 'you sound like us. Next you'll be…'

'Finishing each others sentences.' The other twin finished.

'Well, we do that…' I started.

'Sometimes. But not very often. We are…' Harry continued, an amused grin on his face.'

'Twins after all.' I finished with a grin at their astonished expressions.

'I'm Fred, this is George,' Fred said, gesturing to him and then his brother.

'I'm Harry, this is Hayley,' Harry said introduced, we both winced a little when the twins froze in surprise.

'Harry and Hayley as in… _Potter?'_ George exclaimed.

'Uh… yeah.' I shrugged awkwardly.

They were gawking at us and I felt myself fidgeting awkwardly, while Harry started to turn an interesting shade of red.

'Fred, George are you in here?' A voice floated through the open train door and the twins quickly left, Harry and I shared a relieved look as we sat down across from each other in the compartment. I lay down on my side, completely exhausted from the lack of sleep from the night before, it didn't take me long to doze off and when I woke up I was completely confused and disorientated.

'You're awake! I was starting to think you were going to sleep the whole journey.' Harry sounded ecstatic and it made me smile, 'I bought the whole sweet trolley if you're hungry.'

I sat up, rubbing at my eyes and noticing the inordinate amount of junk food between Harry and the boy sat next to him with a rat on his lap.

'Who are you?' I asked, sleepily.

'Er- Ron. Ron Weasley.' The red head introduced himself.

'I'm Hayley.' I gave him a small smile as I reached forward for a box of unfamiliar food, 'what are Bertie Bott's Every Flavour-Beans?'

Harry laughed, 'try them they're pretty good. So are the Pumpkin Pasties- I saved you a few.' He gestured to the small pile of food he had put at the end of the seat I had been lying on.

'Thanks, Jay.' I smiled kindly at him and went for the Pumpkin Pasty first. Once I had finished I looked up as the compartment door opened, revealing a girl our age with brown bushy hair and kind, brown eyes.

'Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one.' She said, sounding rather bossy, but I could see concern in her eyes.

'No, we've already said we haven't.' Ron said, his mouth full of food, I noticed for the first time that he had his wand out and I was idly wondering what for, but the bushy haired girl beat me to asking.

'Are you doing magic?' She crossed her arms over her chest as she stepped into the compartment, the door sliding shut behind her, 'lets see then.'

'I was just gonna do a spell George taught me to turn my rat yellow,' he muttered, clearing his throat when it was clear that the bushy haired girl wasn't going to leave without a demonstration, 'sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow.'

When nothing happened, I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at the disappointed look on Harry's face and the skeptical look on the bushy haired girl's.

'Are you sure that's a real spell?' She didn't wait for an answer, 'well it isn't very good is it? I've practiced a few simple spells myself, but they've all worked for me. Nobody in my family is magical at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard- I've learnt all our schools books off by heart of course, I just hope it will be enough.' She said all of this so fast that if I hadn't been concentrating, I wouldn't have caught it all.

'That's great, you'll definitely be prepared then.' I gave her a kind smile of encouragement- it was obvious she was nervous.

'I hope so.' She muttered before she smiled back, 'I'm Hermione Granger by the way. Who are you?'

'Ronald Weasley.' Ron said, his mouth full of food.

'Harry Potter.' Harry waved.

'I'm Hayley Potter.' I smiled, hiding my cringe when her eyes lit up with recognition.

'Are you really?' She sounded impressed, 'I know all about you both, of course- I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.'_

'We are?' Harry looked over to me for conformation and I gave him a nod.

'Yeah, I came across us in all of those books, and a few more. I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't like it.' I explained.

Harry's eyes clouded with understanding as I gave him an apologetic smile.

'Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I think that Gryffindor sounds the best, though I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either.' Hermione changed the subject and I was glad.

'I wouldn't mind bing in any of them, if I'm honest.' I answered, causing Ron to look at me with a slack jaw.

'Even _Slytherin?_ ' He exclaimed.

'Yes, even Slytherin. Just because Voldemort was in Slytherin it doesn't mean everyone in that house is bad. It's a load of rubbish, in my opinion, but obviously others feel differently.' I gave Harry and Ron a pointed look and they both turned a little red.

'Anyway, I'd better get back to looking for Neville's toad. You three should change into your robes we'll be arriving soon.' She said, her eyes resting on me for a moment longer than the boys before she walked out of the compartment.

'Well you heard her,' I said, reaching to take my robes out of my trunk and heading to the bathroom to change, I could hear Ron asking Harry about my views on the different Hogwarts' houses as I left, but I just carried on and pretended I didn't hear him. When I returned the boys were also in their Hogwarts robes, according to Ron we had about twenty minutes before we would arrive in the station and I was starting to fidget with excitement.

'What houses are your brothers in?' Harry asked and I listened, wanting something to distract myself from the train propelling us to Hogwarts.

'Gryffindor.' Ron sounded glum about that, 'Mum and Dad were as well. Don't know what they'll do if I'm not.'

'I'm sure they won't care.' I assured him, well I tried to, but he didn't look convinced.

'You know, Scabbers' whiskers look a bit lighter,' Harry said gesturing to the rat on Ron's lap, trying to distract him I supposed.

'What's your Quidditch Team?' Ron asked, and I actually had an answer for him- one of the books I had picked out was called _Quidditch Through the Ages,_ and I had read it with colossal interest.

'The Holy Head Harpies.' I answered immediately.

'Puddlemore United.' Harry said- he had borrowed the book as well when I had told him about it- 'though we've never actually seen a game.'

'It's the best game in the world,' Ron perked right up at the mention of Quidditch, launching in to explaining all about the balls, the rules and the positions. We both knew them all of course, thanks to the book, but neither of us interrupted him, happy that the glumness from earlier was gone. He paused abruptly when the compartment door slid open again but it wasn't Hermione. It was the boy from Diagon Alley and as soon as I recognized him, I knew that I was glaring.

'What do _you_ want? Given your views on Muggleborn's some thought and you're here to apologise?' I asked, though I was doubtful, the boy glared straight back at me before he seemed to force himself to stop.

'Is it true?' He said, 'they're saying all down the train that Harry and Hayley Potter are in this compartment. It's you two isn't it?'

'Yes,' Harry said, looking irritated by the boy's presence.

'That's right. Not pure bloods though so I don't think we're the kind of friends you're looking for,' I winked, but my tone was venomous.

The pale boy observed me carefully, his pale eyes seemed impressed, but it was hard to tell- his expression was impenetrable. Harry cleared his throat, interrupting our stare off and drawing the boy's gaze and mine. I noticed he was staring at the other two boys that were standing either side of the pale boy; they were beefy and looked like bodyguards.

'This is Crabbe,' the pale boy gestured to the boy standing to his right and then the one to his left, 'and this is Goyle. And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.'

'I hope we're not supposed to be impressed.' I said, raising a brow.

'You should be. You'll soon be finding out some wizarding families are better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.' He smirked, as if he were offering us something we couldn't possibly resist.

I shared a disbelieving look with Harry before I stood from my seat, too annoyed to sit down now. I heard Harry stand up behind me, but I was too far-gone to acknowledge it.

'Listen to me very carefully, _Draco_ because I'm only going to say this once. I won't speak for my brother because he has his own voice but I can say with absolute certainty that if these other wizarding families you're talking about have the same prejudices on blood that you do then I'm _not_ interested.' I crossed my arms over my chest with a stern expression.

'Me neither. I think we can decide the right sort for ourselves, thanks.' Harry said from over my shoulder.

'There you go. We've got your name encase we change our mind.' I smiled, 'and you have ours if you decide to stop being such a racist prat.'

He blinked when I said that, probably surprised due to the sincerity in my voice, but I meant it; if someone wanted to be my friend they just had to be nice to me and they would get the same in return. But so far, all Draco had been was a pretentious, egotistical, racist prat.

'Well-,' Draco started but he was cut off from the sound of an announcement.

'We will be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please ensure you're dressed in your robes and leave your luggage behind. It will be bought to the castle separately.' The voice said.

'Well then. I suppose that ends our conversation.' I said, hinting that they needed to leave.

'Who says we wanna leave?' Goyle grunted, stepping forward and jolting Draco so that he fell into me. I reached out on reflex and steadied him, when he was upright he glared at his left hand man.

'Watch it, Goyle,' he sneered, 'you both go back to the compartment. I'll be there in a minute.'

They turned and left without another word, apparently he had them well trained.

'Do you actually have any friends?' I asked him, my tone curious not mean.

'Yes, you just met two of them.' He looked at me as if I had grown a second head.

'If you treat your friends like servants then you've honestly never had a real friend. And that's just sad.' I said, and his mask broke for a second as he frowned, I think he was thrown off by my sincerity.

'Whatever. I'm going to go.' He turned to leave, but paused halfway out the door, 'for the record, Potter, you'd make a good Slytherin.' He half smiled as he addressed me.

'We'll see,' I replied, my own lips twitching into a smile.

Without another word he turned and left, the door softly closing behind him.

'Well that was… interesting.' Ron muttered; he hadn't moved from his seat, and he hadn't stopped eating either- he may as well have been sat in front of a television watching his favourite soap.

'Ley, please stay away from him. He doesn't seem like a nice person,' Harry murmured, turning me around with a hand on my shoulder.

'I don't think he's dangerous, just complex. But I wouldn't worry about it- I doubt that he'll seek us out much anyway. He's seen more than once that I can out wit him' I joked, laughing with my twin.

'Yeah, remind me to never get on your bad side.' Ron muttered, completely serious.

'Don't worry about it- she's only ever confrontational if anyone upsets her friends or family. Or if, like Malfoy, they're racist.' Harry assured him with another laugh.

The train came to a stop not too long after and we made our way out onto the platform- I had my arm linked through Harry's to make sure I didn't get separated from him. The platform was dark and the autumn air was cold and bit across my cheeks harshly. I was wondering what we were supposed to do now when I heard a familiar voice: 'firs' years! Firs' years! Don't be shy!'

I dragged Harry towards the voice immediately, and when I saw Hagrid stood with a torch with a bunch of first years gathered around them, I gently made my way through and hugged him. I hadn't known him for more than a day, really, but I had become fond of Hagrid. He seemed surprised that someone was hugging him, but when he recognized it was me, he placed a gentle hand on my back and patted me twice before I pulled back. I noticed his eyes were a little misty, but I decided not to comment on it.

'Did yer both have a good summer?' He asked as he started to lead us all down a steep and narrow path, ignoring the whispers of the others behind us.

'It was okay. Glad to be here though.' I answered honestly.

'Yeah, it was kind of boring, actually.' Harry added before answering Ron's question about how we knew Hagrid.

After a few minutes of walking we reached a set of boats, but before anyone could think about getting in, Hagrid's loud voice was cutting across the whole group.

'Right, four ter a boat, no more!' He said before getting into the head boat on his own.

Hermione joined Harry, Ron and me in our boat. As we moved slowly along there wasn't much conversation, all of us were too excited about being in a boat that rowed itself to be too chatty.

'You'll get yer first view of the castle in a sec!' Hagrid yelled to assure he could be heard on all the boats.

When we turned around a corner we came face to face with a castle. It was huge and looked particularly breath taking in the night, with the lights inside the castle accenting the hundred different windows. It was incredible. I hadn't realized I'd tightly gripped Harry's hand until he squeezed mine in assurance. When I looked over to him, I could see the awe in his expression, too. Other than Hagrid telling us to duck as we sailed into a tunnel that appeared to flow under the castle, no one spoke. After we had unloaded from the boats, Hagrid led us to a large oak door that was twice as tall as him.

'Everyone here?' He shouted, when no one protested, he raised a large fist and knocked at the door three times.

It swung open immediately, reveling a stern faced woman, dressed in emerald green robes with a matching hat.

'The first years, Professor McGonagall.' Hagrid said.

'Thank you, Hagrid, I'll take it from here.' Professor McGonagall replied.

Hagrid walked past the Professor, towards another huge door. He slipped in and closed the door behind him. Professor McGonagall bought us all in the castle, gathering us in front of the same doors Hagrid had walked in through. There wasn't any chatter so she didn't have to raise her voice even a little to be heard.

'Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is very important because, while you are here, your house will be like your family. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your common room.' She paused for a moment while that information sunk in, 'the four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.' Her lips twitched into a small smile, 'the sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you're waiting.'

She left the room, and chatter picked up quickly. Ron started to furiously scrub at the dirt on his nose while Harry tried to smoothen his hair, which made me chuckle softly.

'Harry, your hair has a mind of it's own. Don't worry, you'll be fine.' I assure him, squeezing the arm that my hand was linked through. He offered me a thankful, though nervous, smile.

'What do you think the test could be?' I heard Hermione ask and I turned around to respond.

'She didn't say anything about a test. I doubt they'd do anything too horrendous to first years without any magical experience, so don't worry,' I smiled kindly to her, which she returned. I felt Harry relax at my words and Ron sighed in relief.

'And what makes you the expert, Potter?' Crabbe sneered from Draco's side.

'I never said I was an expert, Crabbe. But I do have common sense, something which you're clearly lacking.' I smiled sweetly at him, he stepped forward in anger when a few students laughed at my remark, but his approach was delayed when Draco harshly yanked him back with a fistful of his robes.

Crabbe looked confused at Draco's actions, and so did Goyle, but before they could question it a few students at the back of the room screamed. I turned to see what was happening, but relaxed when I realized what the commotion was actually about. About twenty ghosts were floating through the wall, talking amongst themselves as if nothing was amiss, which for me it wasn't- there had been a section on the Hogwarts ghosts in _Hogwarts: A History._

'Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-,' one of the ghosts said, but was interrupted by his ghostly companion.

'My, dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost- I say what are you all doing here?' He noticed the group of first years for the first time.

When no one else looked like they were going to answer I said, 'we're first years. Just waiting for the sorting ceremony.'

The ghost's eyes landed on me and I smiled kindly, which he returned before he said, 'I see.'

The first ghost said, 'Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know.'

'Move along now.' McGonagall said sharply, 'The Sorting Ceremony's about to start.'

All attention once again returned to her as the ghost's floated through the wall behind her.

'Now form a line,' she ordered, 'and follow me.'

Ron was at the front of the line, then Harry, then me, then a kid who looked Italian with kind eyes. As we entered the hall, I ignored the inquisitive stares from the rest of the students; instead I resisted the urge to crane my neck to get a better look at the ceiling. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles and the ceiling shone with a midnight sky and hundreds of brilliant stars. There had been illustrations and explanations in the book, of course, but it didn't do the beauty justice. I was so taken with the ceiling that I almost walked into Harry when he came to a stop as we reached the front of the hall. Professor McGonagall was standing beside a wooden stool that had an old looking had sitting astride it. Much to everyone's amazement it looked up and started to sing:

 _'Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find,_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a thinking cap!'_

The thinking cap bowed to each of the house tables as they clapped for him, before becoming still again.

'You were right, Hayley,' Ron smiled weakly, 'we've just got to try on a hat!'

The three of us shared relieved looks as we watched people start to be sorted. The process was happening quite quickly and I was starting to notice Harry getting more and more pale.

'Granger, Hermione,' McGonagall called out, I gave her a smile that she returned as she passed by me to get to the stool. The hat was placed on her head, and all was silent for a moment when the hat shouted, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

The Gryffindor table cheered and stood to greet her. I was giving her a grin when the next name made me whip my head around.

'Malfoy, Draco.' McGonagall said.

Draco made his way to he stool appearing cool and confident, as McGonagall slipped the hat onto his head. He seemed to be wearing it for a little longer than the others so far when it finally announced, 'SLYTHERIN!'

I gave him a small smile when he looked my way before he shuffled off the stool and made his way to his house. A few more students were sorted, I wasn't really paying attention to them in all honesty; I was just looking out for the ones I knew.

'Potter, Harry.' The hall immediately broke into whispers.

'You'll be fine, Harry.' I whispered, squeezing his hand one final time before he made his way to the front. The hat was placed on his head, and what felt like an hour later the hat announced loudly: 'GRYFFINDOR!'

I could tell Harry was dazed and relieved, so he probably didn't notice that he got the loudest cheer yet. I could hear the twins shouting: 'we got a Potter!'

After a stern look from McGonagall the hall quieted down again and the next name caused the same reaction as my twin's had.

'Potter, Hayley,' it might just have been me, but the whole hall seemed to be holding their breath as I stepped forward and sat on the stool. I saw the staring eyes of the rest of the students before I was looking at the inside of the hat.

'Interesting. Now your mind is much more complex than your brother's. Much more. You have bravery, that I can see, particularly for you friends and for what you believe in… yes.' He paused thoughtfully, 'you also have one of the most brilliant minds I have ever seen.'

 _I wouldn't mind either of those_ I thought, thinking he was mentioning Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

'Yes I can see that too. If those were the only characteristics you possessed then this wouldn't be a problem. But you see, you're also loyal, making you suitable for Hufflepuff. Not to mention the cunning streak I can see clear as day right here.'

 _Oh… I honestly don't mind where you put me. It would be nice to be with my brother though… just a suggestion._

The sorting hat seemed to chuckle before he loudly shouted, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

The hat was removed from my head and I squinted for a moment as the lights of the hall overwhelmed my senses. I idly wondered how long I had actually been there for when McGonagall bought me out of my daze with a gentle touch on my shoulder. I got down from the stool and made my way to the cheering Gryffindor table, squeezing Ron's shoulder in comfort on my way past him. Before I took my seat, I spent a few minutes shaking a few hands and trying not to let the embarrassment show on my face before I sat down next to my brother.

'We've got both Potters!' The oldest Weasley exclaimed with delight- he introduced himself as Percy and he had a firm handshake.

'What did he say to you? You were wearing the hat for a good five minutes.' Harry murmured to me, sounding curious.

'I'll tell you later.' I murmured back; I didn't want people to over hear and there were still a few people who needed to be sorted. Someone called Lisa Turpin was made a Ravenclaw, and then it was Ron's turn on the seat. I could tell he was looking a little green and I hoped he wasn't going to throw up in front of the whole school. Luckily, the Sorting Hat quickly declared him a 'GRYFFINDOR!' And that seemed to bring some colour back to his cheeks.

Lastly was the Italian boy who had been behind me in the queue earlier, McGonagall declared him, 'Zabini, Blaise.' And he was quickly sorted into 'SLYTHERIN!'

And just like that, all of the first years now had a house. I noticed Harry looking down at his plate, probably thinking about how hungry he was, and honestly I couldn't blame him; the train seemed like forever ago and I had only had a pumpkin pasty today.

A man stood from the head table, I recognized him of course; Albus Dumbledore was a very famous wizard and therefore in quite a few of the books I had picked up from Diagon Alley. Dumbledore was beaming as if he were greeting his family as they joined him for Christmas dinner.

'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!' He started, his strong voice carrying throughout the wall easily, 'before we start with the feast, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!'

He sat back down and we all clapped and cheered for him. I looked over to my twin and noted his confusion as I heard him ask Percy, 'Is he- a bit mad?'

'Mad? Percy mused as he considered it, 'he's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?'

My eyes widened in shock as I realized that the dishes in front of us were now piled with food. It must have happened in the time I had been listening to Harry and Percy's conversation, but I couldn't believe how much there was. Everything I could think of was in front of me: mash potato, roast potato, boiled potatoes, chicken, beef, bacon, sausage rolls, steak, Yorkshire pudding, carrots, sprouts, peas, gravy and for some reason, mint humbugs.

I tuned out from the conversations around me as I loaded as much as I could on my plate and promptly dug in. I cleared my plate in record time, full for the first time I could remember. When I saw Harry's satisfied expression I knew he felt the same.

'You know, I miss food.' A ghost said from behind me.

My expression was sympathetic, 'how long has it been?'

'Nearly five hundred years.' Said the ghost, his tone was miserable but he perked up almost instantly, 'I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor tower.'

'Is it alright if I call you Nick?' I asked, knowing that I wouldn't be able to remember his full name. He gave me a kind smile and nodded.

'I know who you are!' Ron said suddenly, his mouth full of food, 'you're Nearly Headless Nick!'

'I would prefer _you_ to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington-,' Nick began stiffly, annoyed with Ron, obviously that name was a sore subject for him.

' _Nearly_ headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?' A boy whose name I thought was Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

Nick was very clearly irritated now and I felt myself tense as his spine straightened.

'Like this,' he said grouchily. He seized one of his ears and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and hung to the side, a slither of skin keeping it in place like it was on a hinge. I felt myself wince a little, and I wouldn't have been surprised if everyone else was doing the same. Nick assessed us all for a moment and he must have been happy with our reactions because his head was soon snapped back in place and he proposed a new topic of conversation as if nothing had happened.

'I hope you're going to help us win the house cup this year. Gryffindor have never gone so long without winning, the Bloody Baron is becoming almost unbearable- he's the Slytherin ghost.'

Harry and I looked over to the Slytherin table at the same time. I spotted their ghost immediately; he was terrifying. He had black, soulless eyes, a stern expression and silver blood all over his robes. I shivered unintentionally, but when I looked one person down from the Baron, I smiled in amusement. Draco was sat next to him, and if his expression gave anything away it was that he was most definitely _not_ happy about the arrangement. In the back of my mind I could hear Seamus asking Nick about the Baron's robes but in that moment Draco looked up and met my gaze. I let my eyes flick the slightest to the left- where the Baron was- and then back to him. He realized what I was hinting at immediately, a displeased expression on his face, making me grin. For a moment, a smile twitched at the corners of his lips before his impenetrable mask was once again in place and he looked away from me when one of his housemates asked him something. I turned back around and immediately noticed the desserts in the middle of the table and the freshly clean plates and bowls in front of me. There was ice cream in every flavor I could have imagined, treacle tarts, éclairs, doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, and rice pudding… I suddenly found myself wishing I hadn't eaten so much already; I had stuffed my face over the banquet and I couldn't possibly eat another bite. Instead I listened in on the conversations around me, hoping something sounded interesting enough for me to join in on.

'Me dad's a Muggle. Mam's a witch. Didn't tell him until after they were married- bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out.' Seamus said, a few others and myself laughing with him.

A pudgy looking boy with brown hair a few seats down from him spoke next- I thought his name was Neville.

'My gran's a witch. But for ages the family thought I didn't have any magic in me. My uncle tried so many different ways to get it to come out. It eventually worked when he accidently let me drop out of a window. Luckily I bounced instead of falling for my death.' Neville said, his eyes glazed over for a moment as if he was relieving it.

When I heard Percy and Hermione's conversation, however I quickly joined in with them.

'I'm looking forward to transfiguration, myself.' Hermione said, her eyes glittering with interest.

'That does seem interesting.' I agreed, 'but personally I can't wait for potions.'

'I wouldn't get too excited,' said Percy, his eyes darting to the head table where all of the teachers sat, 'the Potions teacher, Professor Snape, doesn't like Gryffindor's.'

'Honestly this house prejudice is almost as bad as blood.' I rolled my eyes in annoyance, my gaze drifting to the teachers' table. I spotted Professor Quirrell in his purple turban, talking to another teacher with black hair, a hooked nose and a pale complexion. But it wasn't his companion that sent a slither of fear down my spine. All of a sudden I felt a twinge of pain at the back of my neck, right where my scar was.

'Did you feel that?' Harry murmured to me.

I nodded, discretely trying to rub the back of my neck, Harry doing the same with his forehead. The pain disappeared as quickly as it had come. I turned to Harry when I heard him talking to Percy.

'Who's that teacher speaking to Professor Quirrell?' He asked, and I wondered why he wanted to know about the greasy-haired man. Didn't he feel the same uneasiness from Quirrell that I did?

'That's Professor Snape- he's the head of Slytherin and he teaches potions. Everyone knows it's Quirrell's job he's after, though. He's wanted to teach the Dark Arts for years.' Percy told Harry before returning to his conversation with Hermione.

I noticed Harry staring down the teachers' table for a while before he gave up, but I didn't comment on it. It didn't take a genius to know he was trying to catch Professor Snape's eye, but I was starting to get tired and I just wanted to go to bed. It had been a _long_ day. As if someone had been reading my mind, the plates, cutlery and the puddings disappeared, leaving behind a clean looking dark oak table. Professor Dumbledore stood again, clearing his throat to gain everyone's attention. The hall fell silent at once.

'First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well,' I followed his gaze as he looked over to the Weasley twins. When they met my eye I smirked at them and they both bowed.

'I have also been asked by Mr Filtch, the caretaker, to remind you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held on the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.' He waited a moment for the whispers of excitement to settle before he continued, 'And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a painful death.'

Harry laughed, as did a few others, but I myself remained silent- I could hear the sincerity in Dumbledore's voice.

'He's not serious?' Harry muttered.

'He sounded it.' I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder. I was really struggling to keep my eyes open now. I thought I could hear the sound of music playing for a few moments before it stopped again but I might have imagined it.

'Ley,' Harry murmured, shaking my shoulder lightly.

My eyes snapped open as I sat up- I didn't remember closing them in the first place. I noticed a few students staring at me, but for the most part everyone was exiting the hall. I must have been sitting too long because Harry pulled me into standing position with a gently tug on my elbow. I linked my arm through his as we walked, trying not to lean too heavily on him- I still felt like I was asleep. I should have been paying more attention to where we were actually going, because we were heading to the Gryffindor common room, and I wasn't going to have a clue how to actually get there. I blinked a little harshly and forced myself to be awake and alert, memorizing the path to the corridor as best as I could. Eventually Percy led us to a large portrait that had a lady dressed in Victorian clothing in it. She eyed the group in front of her, unimpressed.

'Password?' She asked, sounding incredibly bored.

'Caput Draconis.' Percy said confidently and I stored that information away for later use as the door swung open.

The common room was very cozy; it had a large desk along the left side of the wall and opposite to it was a large, roaring fireplace with red sofas strategically placed around it. The room was littered with red and gold, it was really very welcoming.

'I like it here.' I murmured.

'Me too,' Harry agreed, taking in the room as well.

'The first year boys dormitories are up the staircase, first door to your left. For the girls it's the same, but on your right. If anyone has any questions then don't hesitate to ask.' Percy said before heading up the left staircase, probably to his own dormitory.

I frowned when I considered that- Harry and I had shared a room all our lives so being separated from him was going to be… different. Good or bad, I didn't know, but I was hoping it was the former. I didn't want to be exhausted all the time because I couldn't sleep without my brother in the room. I gave Harry a hug and wished him goodnight before I joined Hermione in checking out the girls' dorm.

'I'm so tired, are you?' Hermione asked, seeming surprised when I linked my arm through hers, she didn't protest though.

'Exhausted. I was hoping to read over the notes I made over the summer, but I don't think I can keep my eyes open for much longer.' I laughed weakly.

'You made notes?' When I nodded she continued excitedly, 'I did too! Thank goodness, I thought I was being over eager with how much work I have done over the summer.'

'Honestly, I didn't even know I was a witch until my birthday at the end of July. When I got all my books I wanted to read them to find out more; and when I started I couldn't stop. This world is so much more interesting than the Muggle world.' I replied, smiling kindly at her, she and I were going to be good friends I just _knew_ it.

'Can't disagree with that.' Hermione chuckled as we reached the door for the first years.

We shared a look before she pushed it open. Our heads moved rapidly as we took in as much detail as we could- the room was decorated with several canopy beds, each bed already had everyone's trunks at the end- Hermione and I were delighted to see ours were next to each other. The carpet was a deep red and I could tell by just looking at it that it was soft. It was just as cozy as the common room and I was delighted.

Hermione and I quickly and quietly changed into our pajamas- over the summer I had actually managed Aunt Petunia to buy Harry and me some new Muggle clothes. As the ones we had were Dudley's, they made Harry look like he was drowning and I looked like a boy. I hadn't wanted to be embarrassed over it, so I had summoned up all of my courage and asked her. She hadn't bought us much- seven plain white and grey t-shirts for Harry, along with a few pairs of plaid pajamas and a few pairs of dark blue jeans. As for me I had seven t-shirts as well, that were plain but different colours, and I had a few pairs of jeans, one dark blue and the other black. My pajamas were one nightie and a pair of pajama shorts and a vest top. As well as that she had bought us both a jacket each and a pair of black replica converse trainers that would go with all of our Muggle outfits. I had offered to give her some of the Galleons in exchange, as had Harry, but she just scoffed and said there was nothing she could do with Wizarding money. It had cost a total of sixty pounds for both mine and Harry's clothes so I had owled Hagrid a letter and a package with 12 Galleons and 23 Knuts and asked him to convert it to Muggle money for me. I had also sent him 5 Galleons extra for him to keep- I felt bad for asking him to go out of his way for me. He owled me the Muggle money and the 5 Galleons I had sent for him saying it wasn't necessary because he was happy to do it. I had given the money to Aunt Petunia and she took it without a word.

'Are you excited for tomorrow?' Hermione's voice floated over to me as I wiggled under the covers, trying to get warm.

'I am. I hope we have potions tomorrow.' I mused.

'I hope we have Transfiguration.' Hermione murmured through a yawn, 'do you think we'll get our time table's with breakfast?'

'I'd assume so. Maybe they'll come with the morning post?' I wondered idly, my eyes were starting to droop and I didn't want to fall asleep on Hermione, 'goodnight Hermione.'

'Goodnight, Hayley.' She replied easily.

It wasn't long before I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

'Quickly, we don't want to be late for breakfast!' Hermione hurried me along.

'I'm coming, I'm coming. I just need to make sure I have everything- would you mind helping me?' I asked her, sending her a dramatic pleading expression that made her laugh as she came over to see what I had in my bag.

'Let's see… you have your transfiguration book, your potions book, your charms book, quill, ink, your wand and plenty of parchment. Yes, you have everything, Hayley.' She assured me, tugging my elbow to get me to move towards the door. I followed her this time, satisfied that I was prepared.

'Ah, it's such a lovely morning isn't it?' I said happily as Hermione and I headed towards the great hall- we had accidentally slept in and were the last two girls to leave our dorm room.

'It is,' Hermione agreed, her arm linked through mine as we walked.

It turned out; our timetables weren't going to be delivered with the morning post. No, they had appeared on our bedside tables overnight, and I would have missed it if Hermione hadn't noticed hers first. The lessons looked like this:

 _Breakfast 6-7:30_

 _Lesson One 8-9:30_

 _Break 9:30-10_

 _Lesson Two 10:30- 12_

 _Lunch 12-1:30_

 _Lesson Three 2-3:30_

 _Free time 3:30- 7_

 _Dinner 7-8:30_

 _Back to dormitories at 8:30 and you must remain there until breakfast._

The lessons changed from day to day, but I was happy to see that first lesson was Transfiguration, second was Charms and third was Potions. I noticed we had half an hour between each meal ending and the next lesson beginning and I assumed that was because of the size of the castle- it would probably take us that long to walk from room to room. Hermione and I made it to the hall at a few minutes before seven- according to the monogrammed clock above the head table- and we made our way to sit across from Harry and Ron, I also had George the other side of me.

'Morning' I greeted everyone brightly as I started to load food onto my plate. The breakfast spread didn't disappoint- it was almost as good as the banquet. There was bacon, eggs cooked in every way you could imagine, sausage, different cereals and fruit.

'Mornin'' the Weasley twins said together.

'Why are you so cheerful?' Ron asked.

'I slept well,' I shrugged.

Ron looked at me as if I was crazy but he didn't say anything else. The rest of breakfast was spent with me and Hermione talking about what we might be learning in our lessons today, while Harry and Ron looked at us as if we had each grown an extra head. I gave them a sheepish grin before the bell rang, getting all the students from their seats. Harry and Ron went in one direction while me and Hermione went in another- I assumed they had a different class because if they had Transfiguration too then they were going the wrong way. We were half way through the lesson, all trying to transform matchsticks into needles- Hermione and I were on our fourth, having mastered the spell quite quickly- when Harry and Ron ran in as if the hounds of hell were after them.

McGonagall didn't look pleased, though it was hard to tell; she was currently a tabby cat sat on the desk at the front.

'Thank god! Can you imagine McGonagall's face if-,' Ron started but I quickly cut him off.

'You'll want to get a move on- we're transforming matchsticks into needles.' I tilted my head in the direction of the only two empty seats left, my eyes widening at Harry to convey my urgency. He understood and sat down without another word, Ron trailing behind him. They quickly picked up on the incantation from everyone around them and got to work. Their expressions at the end when McGonagall transformed back to assess our progress were priceless.

'Yes, I was here the whole time, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, and I can assure you that my face was impassive. Though perhaps next time you will be punctual, yes?' McGonagall moved on when they both vigorously nodded their heads.

No one, aside from Hermione, and me had managed to transform their matchsticks. When McGonagall went to pick up one of my successions, I shook my head slightly. She understood and didn't bring it to the classes attention; I was getting stared at enough, along with my twin, and I didn't want any extra attention if I could avoid it.

The day passed by pretty quickly, and before I knew it we were making our way to potions in the dungeons. I felt the temperature drastically drop and I shivered a little, gripping Hermione's arm a little tighter- Ron and Harry had left ten minutes before the end of dinner, wanting to give them selves extra time encase they got lost again, and apparently a lot of others had the same idea- the room was basically full only two seats remaining, but they weren't next to each other. Hermione quickly took the empty seat next to Lavender Brown, which left me to sit next to Draco Malfoy.

'Hey,' I said by way of greeting.

'Afternoon,' he replied politely.

We lapsed into silence then as Professor Snape swept into the room. I had already gotten out my ink, parchment and quill. As soon as he reached the front of the room he dramatically turned around and started to speak.

'You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making.' He spoke barely above a whisper, but he was easily heard as no one dared to make a sound, 'as there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads I usually have to teach.'

I noticed Ron and Harry share a look while Hermione was so excited to get started that she looked like she was going to fall off her seat.

'Potter!' Snape said suddenly, he was looking at my brother and I idly wondered if he had seen me yet- Malfoy and I were at the very back of the room and concealed in the low lighting.

'What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?' Snape demanded.

I gave Harry a moment to answer, but when it was clear he didn't have a clue I said, 'A powerful sleeping potion known as The Draught of the Living Death.'

Snape seemed to freeze for a moment, his sneer towards my brother dropping in surprise as his eyes cut to the back of the classroom to look for who had answered the question. When his eyes landed on me he looked like he was seeing a ghost.

'Correct, Miss Potter. Though I wasn't asking you, your desire to protect your brother is rather… adorable.' His voice was like acid but his eyes held pain.

'I'm sorry, Professor, but if you wanted Harry to answer you should have been more specific rather than just shouting out our last name.' I smiled sweetly, though there was nothing sweet about my smile; it didn't matter if it was a teacher, apparently my protective instincts knew no bounds.

The whole class fell deadly silent as Snape and I seemed to have a stare off. There was no way I was looking away first. When he blurted out another question to try and throw me off guard, I remained calm.

'Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?'

'The stomach of a goat.' I answered, out of the corner of my eye I could see students' heads bobbing in between us as if they were watching a Ping-Pong match.

'And what is bezoar used to cure?' He tried again.

'Most poisons.'

'What's the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?' He had been stepping closer and closer with each question and he was now towering over me, his eyes narrowed as he waited for my answer.

'There is no difference, Professor. They are the same plant and are also known as aconite.' I raised my brow as if to dare him to ask me another question, an action, which made him smirk in amusement. I heard Draco make a barely audible gasp at the sight, before Snape's expression became unreadable once more.

'Very well, Miss Potter, you have clearly prepared for this class. Five points to Gryffindor.' He said, moving to the front of the classroom once more, ignoring the disbelieving gasps of the other students.

'Did Snape seriously just give you house points for talking back to him?' Draco whispered in my ear.

'It appears that way,' I was just as confused as he was but when Snape instructed us to turn to page 201 in our books and make the potion following those instructions, I soon became absorbed in the task.

'So how do you want to do this?' I asked Draco, raising my brow in question.

'I'll get the ingredients, you get the cauldron and everything else set up.' He said, grabbing his books and sauntering over to the ingredients cupboard by Snape's desk. I shrugged and did as he said, pre heating the cauldron to the potion's optimum temperature. When he returned everything was ready.

'Okay, lets measure out the quantities of each ingredient and put them in the order they need to be added. Is that good with you?' I said, not wanting to completely take over the task, when he nodded in acceptance I said, 'I'll do the first half you do the second.'

He did so without complaint, and I was trying hard to concentrate and not wait for the other shoe to drop; he was being decent and I was dreading the moment he returned to his racist, egotistical and arrogant self. Once all of the components were measured, we started to add them, following the instructions carefully. I was grateful when the process seemed to go pretty smoothly, as the potion was soon finished. I left it to simmer as Draco and I went to return the left over ingredients. On my way back I noticed that Neville was about to add porcupine quills to his cauldron, while it was still on the fire. I quickly rushed over and grabbed his wrist, stopping him, he looked confused but I simply shook my head and reached over to turn the fire off. Once I had, I released his wrist and gave him a nod of encouragement to add the quills. He did and the potion simmered happily.

'You have to turn off the fire before you add the quills, it would have exploded if you added them while it was still boiling.' I explained, patting his arm as I walked past.

'Thanks, Hayley,' Neville said, sounding grateful.

'No problem.' I smiled warmly at him and he returned it before I headed back to my seat. When I noticed Professor Snape stood by mine and Draco's desk, I tensed a little but then forced myself to relax.

'Having a nice catch up with your friend, were you, Miss Potter?' Snape asked, I felt the attention of the students turn to us before Snape barked, 'eyes on your cauldrons.' Everyone turned away but I knew they were still listening.

'Yes Professor I was. I simply had to compliment Neville on his stirring technique,' I answered, managing to keep the sarcasm from my voice; I wasn't about to out Neville for what he had almost done.

'His stirring technique?' Snape didn't sound convinced, and if I wasn't mistaken he sounded _amused._

'Yes sir,' I felt my own lips twitch as I tried to fight as smile.

'Very well. Now your potion is finished fill three vials, engrave your initials and Mr Malfoy's into them and hand them in at the front for marking.' Snape said, billowing past me with a swish of his robe. I stood back behind the desk and started to do as instructed.

'What is it about you that makes Professor Snape seem… _human?'_ Blaise Zabini asked from the desk in front of us once the chatter had picked up once again.

I simply shrugged; I honestly had no idea but I wasn't about to complain about it. I filled two vials and Draco filled one, once they were engraved, Draco took them to the front before returning to our desk where I had already disposed of the potion and cleaned the cauldron with a sneaky flick of my wand (after I made sure Snape wasn't looking, of course.)

By the time I was finished, we still had thirty minutes left of the lesson.

'So. How are you liking school so far?' I tried for small talk, knowing I would get bored just sitting there.

'We're only on day one, Hayley, ask me in a week.' Draco smirked, laughter in his eyes.

'Alright,' I conceded, 'well you propose a topic of conversation then. I'm _bored_.'

'We've only been quiet for thirty seconds,' Draco's voice was annoyed but his eyes were amused.

'I need constant entertainment, so sue me,' I rolled my eyes, before looking around the classroom to check if anyone else was done. They weren't which made me sigh. I noticed Harry and Ron getting particularly stressed over their potion, but with Snape watching everyone with a hawk eye I didn't dare to go and help them. Hermione and Lavender seemed to be doing all right, though that might have been because Hermione was doing all the work and Lavender was staring at her nails.

'What's your favourite colour?' Draco asked from next to me.

'Blue.' I answered straight away, smiling at his surprise, 'what about yours?'

'Silver,' he said after a moments thought.

'What's your favourite season?' I asked.

'Autumn.'

'Me, too.' I smiled.

That was how we spent the rest of the lesson, asking each other random questions and giving honest answers. It was fun. Part of me was surprised that I was having fun with Draco Malfoy, the same boy I had shouted at on two different occasions, but like I said to him if he was nice to me, I would return the favor. When the bell rang signaling the end of the lesson I left Draco with a warm smile and a 'see you later.' He returned the smile for the briefest of moments before his stone-faced mask was back in place.

'So, how did you do?' I asked Harry and Ron as I joined them at their table.

'I have no idea. We kept getting the instructions and quantities mixed up.' Ron muttered, sounding stressed.

'I'm sure you did fine.' I tried to reassure them, grabbing Hermione's elbow as she went to walk past me and linking my arm through hers, 'where's the fire?'

'Sorry,' Hermione said, sounding flustered herself, 'I forgot you were in this lesson with me because we weren't sat together.'

'Don't worry about it. How'd your potion turn out?' I inquired as we walked from the classroom.

'Okay, think. I followed the instructions so there wasn't really anything more I could do.' She said, sounding anxious but also reassured.

'You aced it, Hermione.' I assured her with a warm smile, before I threw out a, 'bye Professor!' over my shoulder as we walked out of the classroom.

'That was a tense lesson.' Ron commented, shaking his head in disbelief.

'I enjoyed it.' I mused, laughing at their shocked expressions, 'it was fun. Plus I got us some house points. Those are the first ones I've been awarded.'

'Yeah after you saved Harry from that monstrous interrogation.' Ron mumbled.

'I'm protective.' I said reaching over and ruffling my brother's hair, when he swatted my hand away I laughed.

'Honestly, Hayley, it was amazing.' Hermione said, sounding impressed.

'Not really, don't pretend you didn't know the answers as well.' I gave her a look and she blushed.

'Well, yes, I did but I never would have had the courage to talk back to him like that.' She argued.

'Well like I said I'm protective.' I shrugged, wishing they'd drop it. I wasn't enjoying the attention. As if the gods of mockery heard me, as soon as we walked into the hall for dinner three hours later, almost all gazes turned to me. I didn't understand why until I heard a few whispers.

' _That one, with the red hair and green eyes….'_

' _Hayley Potter… stood up to professor Snape…'_

' _Got house points….'_

I felt like crawling in a hole, but I refused to back down and headed to my seat, pretending for a moment that I was deaf and couldn't hear everyone loudly whispering around me. As soon as I was seated, I found myself with a Weasley twin either side of me- Hermione had excused herself to the bathroom; otherwise it wouldn't have been possible.

'Well if it isn't the brave little Gryffindor…' Started Fred.

'Who stood up to Snape…' Continued George.

'And got house points for it.' Finished Fred.

I just shrugged, not wanting to go into details.

'That's all you're going to say?' Fred sounded genuinely shocked.

'You do realize that Snape has _never_ given points to a Gryffindor?' George was equally surprised at my lack of response.

'Well I don't know what to tell you. If you want to know why, go and ask him,' I smirked, raising a brow at the twins in challenge.

They both smirked back, impressed by my dare. They shared a look over my head and looked in the direction of the head table at the same time.

'You're firecracker attitude is very impressive.' Fred said.

'Indeed it is, Fred,' said George.

'Thanks,' I laughed, enjoying the way they bounced back and forth. Their eyes glittered with amusement as they looked down on me.

'We're going to be great friends, Firecracker.' George mused.

'Great friends,' Fred agreed before they both got up and went to sit with their usual group.

I stared after them for a moment before turning back to the food on my plate, eating hungrily. Hermione and I had just been doing our homework in the common room- we'd even convinced Harry to join us after about an hour, but Ron refused insisting it wasn't due until next week. I had finished my transfiguration homework and most of my potions- Snape had set an essay on the potion we had covered today at the end of class- and I had worked up more of an appetite than I thought possible.

'How was partnering with Malfoy, anyway? I saw you got stuck with him.' Harry said after he washed down the last of his food with a mouthful of pumpkin juice.

'It was fun actually. We worked well together and he managed not to irritate me.' I shrugged, trying to make light of it. I could tell Harry wasn't happy with the possibility of me growing to enjoy Draco Malfoy's company, but I was saved from hearing him rant when Hermione took her seat next to me.

'I think if we put our minds to it we can finish the potions essay, too. When we get back to the common room of course.' Hermione smiled brightly.

'Me too. I really got into a groove before dinner.' I mused as I pushed my now empty plate away from me, then taking a sip of my juice.

'Do you still want to proof-read each others?' Hermione asked.

'Absolutely.' I gave her a warm smile that she returned.

'How you two can be so into school work baffles me.' Ron shook his head before helping himself to a second helping of chicken wings.

'Everyone has different tastes, Ron. You like to talk about Quidditch, we like to talk about school work.' Hermione shrugged.

'Exactly. Though I also enjoy topics on Quidditch too,' I winked at Ron, 'so what's your favorite lesson so far?'

'Probably Charms, though I can't wait until we can learn to fly. I wish first years were allowed try out for Quidditch.' Ron said, his eyes becoming distant, as he got lost in thought.

'Me too,' Harry and I said at the same time.

Hermione seemed amused and was about to comment on it but the dinner plates cleared at that moment, to be replaced with dessert a few moments later. I hadn't filled up on dinner as much as I had yesterday, so I happily grabbed some cake with custard and began to dig in. After singing the school song- which apparently also happened yesterday but I didn't remember it- Hermione, Ron, Harry and I headed back to the common room. The boys were quick to go to their dorm, exhausted from the day, while Hermione and I finished our essays for potions in front of the roaring fire. It didn't take us long- I only had two more paragraphs to do while Hermione had three- so we were tucked up in bed before ten o'clock.

The week flew by at supersonic speed and before I knew it Friday morning showed itself, officially marking the end of our first week of classes. It was going to be much of the same- we had potions, Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I wasn't looking forward to a lesson with Professor Quirrell, but I decided to worry about that after lunch, as we wouldn't have him until last lesson anyway. Hermione was looking forward to Herbology; I was looking forward to potions while Harry and Ron were looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts. We were just finishing up breakfast when a flurry of owls flew into the hall, delivering the morning post. I started when Aphrodite landed in front of me, her amber eyes staring at me expectantly as she held a letter addressed to me in her beak. I took it from her and offered her some of the left over food on my plate, she dug in happily.

 _Dear Hayley,_

 _I was wondering if you and your brother would like to pop round this evening after your last lesson? We could have some tea and celebrate your first week. Send me a response back with Aphrodite._

 _Hagrid_

I looked up from my letter with a smile on my face, noting that Harry had received one too.

'From Hagrid?' Harry asked, I nodded and rummaged around for some spare parchment in my bag to respond.

'Shall I respond for the both of us?' I offered, already starting to write a response.

'Sure.' Harry agreed.

 _Dear Hagrid,_

 _That sounds wonderful! Harry and I will be there after Defense Against the Dark Arts. We might be bringing some friends, too. I hope that's alright. I can't wait to tell you about my first week!_

 _Hayley_

I folded the parchment over and handed it to Aphrodite after she had finished eating. She flew off to deliver it without complaint just as the bell signaling the beginning of classes rang. I jumped up excitedly while the other three lagged behind.

'Come on guys, we've got potions!' I said excitedly, as if they weren't already aware.

'We know,' Harry groaned.

'I don't know why you three hate potions,' I mused, linking my arm through Harry's and Hermione's as we walked, with Ron leading the way.

'Of course you don't, Professor Snape favors you for some reason. Probably the only Gryffindor that he hasn't hated on sight.' Ron grumbled.

I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face. As much as I wanted to deny it, it was true. Snape seemed to despise anyone from the house of the lion, everyone except me. Whenever he tried to make someone from my house look stupid, I would step in and take the heat off them, answering the question correctly. Every time that happened the room would collectively hold their breath- even the Slytherin's- until Snape praised me for getting the correct answer and the snarkier I was the more likely it was he would give me house points. It was strange. I didn't know why he seemed to favour me so much, but I wasn't going to complain about it or brag about it. When we arrived in the dungeons we all went to our assigned seats- apparently where we sat in the first lesson was now our assigned seat for the rest of the year. I didn't mind, though I knew Hermione wasn't pleased about being stuck with a partner who didn't do a thing.

'Hurry up and get seated.' Snape snapped from the front of the room, writing the lesson's instructions on the chalkboard. I gave Draco a smile in greeting and silently pulled out my parchment, ink, and quill and potions book. Draco rolled his eyes at my preparedness but after moments thought did the same. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.

'Today I would like you to take notes from chapter three. I am aware some of you may have already done this,' he gave Hermione and me a pointed look, 'if that is the case you may prepare to make The Draught of the Living Death potion on page two hundred and fifty two. Begin.'

Students began scrambling to get their books out of their bags immediately while I turned to Draco and asked, 'have you read chapter three?'

'I have actually. Thought I'd see what all the fuss was about when you wouldn't stop talking about how helpful it was.' His voice was bored but his eyes were glittering with amusement. We were at the back of the classroom, so no one could see his expression, which was why he was letting me see the mirth in his eyes while his voice remained impassive; to the Slytherin's he sounded bored but I could see the truth.

'Great. Are you good to get the ingredients while I prepare the cauldron?' when he nodded I started prepping the cauldron, setting it to it's ideal temperature and making room for the ingredients that Draco bought back.

When he returned, we worked without a word; it was quite startling how quickly Draco and I got used to each other, how we were able to communicate without saying a word. I hadn't mentioned it to anyone of course; Draco was a sore subject with my friends, which was why I didn't often bring it up, but I was quickly starting to consider Draco a good friend. It had probably started when Draco had _tried_ to threaten me to do his potions essay for him when I mentioned that mine was already finished. I had simply told him I would happily help him with it, _if_ he never tried to _order_ me to do anything again. When he had recovered from his shock, he agreed. I had met him in the library after last lesson the very same day and then again the following day. He managed to finish the essay without a lot of help from me, and when he asked me to read over it I found that it was very articulate and interesting, which I told him. He had shrugged and tried to appear unaffected from my praise, but I could tell that he was pleased and grateful.

I had told Hermione where I was going on those outings of course, and I had invited her to come with me, but she declined saying she preferred to work in the common room. I had stupidly forgotten to swear her to secrecy though, because I had faced an intervention when I returned to the common room. Harry had pleaded for me to stay away from Malfoy, Ron had told me I couldn't trust a Slytherin and Hermione had told me to be friends with whoever I wanted to. That had earned her matching glares from the boys and a look of gratefulness from me. I had told them the truth- that I had been helping him with his potions essay and I was starting to consider him a friend. I had also threatened to hex them and to stop helping them with any homework if they tried to tell me what I could and couldn't do again. Hermione had backed me up and also threatened to stop offering her help, which had gotten them both to stand down and reluctantly apologise. I couldn't stay too mad, though, they were just being protective, which I could understand.

'What are you doing after last lesson today?' Draco asked quietly, making conversation.

'I'm going to see Hagrid for a bit and then I'll probably make a start on the huge essay Snape is probably going to set us to do over the weekend.' I joked, laughing lightly at the confounded look on Draco's face.

'But we haven't even handed in the essay he set on Monday!' Draco protested.

'I was just kidding, but I could see him doing that if I'm honest.' I said as I finished measuring the last ingredient and added it to our line. Draco added the first and then I added the next and that was how it continued as we spoke.

'You're probably right,' Draco sighed.

'What about you? We have a later curfew tonight, got anything planned?' I asked, my eyes on the bubbling cauldron as I made sure the ingredient I had added evaporated quickly.

'Probably hang out with Blaise in the common room. Do homework so I don't have to do it over the weekend.' He shrugged.

'Yeah me too. Though I'll probably do some reading,' I mused, my eyes flickering to Neville's cauldron as I spoke; I always kept an eye on him, he seemed rather accident prone and I had saved him from a few accidents in this week alone.

'How do you retain so much information?' Draco seemed genuinely amazed.

'No idea,' I shrugged, 'what about Crabbe and Goyle?'

'What about them?' Draco asked, his face forming into a frown.

'I thought they were your best friends. You won't be hanging out with them this weekend?' I was curious now.

'No. I realized that they were a pair of dunderheads.' He mumbled, making me grin.

'Took you long enough.' I teased, smiling when I saw his lips twitch in amusement.

We fell into a comfortable silence as we finished up the potion. It didn't take us much longer as we already had all of the ingredients laid out in chronological order. Snape was making his rounds and he paused when he reached our station; we had just added the last ingredient and I was stirring it for the required time. I saw Snape's brow twitch in surprise at our progression and when I glanced around I realized why; the other students weren't even half way through yet, Hermione included.

'You seem to be almost finished. Very impressive, I must say,' he murmured, looking in between the both of us before he spoke again, 'ten points to Slytherin and Gryffindor each. When you are done, you can help other students with their potions.'

We nodded in response and he turned away and started shouting at Blaise, who was on the table in front of us, for adding phoenix feathers before the lavender stems. Draco returned the remaining ingredients, I added the potions to vials and engraved our initials. Draco took the vials to the front of the room and I cleaned the cauldron with a flick of my wand. Just like that we were finished with forty-five minutes to spare. I went over to my brother and Ron first when I noticed the stressed expression on Harry's face and the sweat on Ron's brow.

'Hey, do you need help?' I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing at the relief on their faces when I showed up.

'Yes, please!' Harry said grabbing my wrist and pulling me to stand next to him, 'the potion is supposed to be a dark blue by now, but it's still green!'

'Tell me _exactly_ what you have added,' I said, picking up their ladle and stirring the potion in a circular motion.

'Three Phoenix feathers, two lavender stems, two pinches of shaved unicorn horn-,' Ron began to list the ingredients but I stopped him abruptly.

'You were only supposed to add two Phoenix feathers and you need four pinches of unicorn horn.' I amended, adding the unicorn horn and glancing around to see where Professor Snape was, only to see he was looking right at me. I give him an innocent smile before turning to look back at the cauldron.

'What about the Phoenix feather?' Harry sounded worried and I didn't blame him- Snape wouldn't hesitate to berate him for doing this incorrectly.

'I'm working on it.' I murmured, discretely pulling my wand from my robe pocket and pointing it at the bottom of the cauldron. As soon as I made sure Snape's attention was elsewhere I murmured the spell I had seen in chapter fourteen _How to Rectify Potion Mistakes._ 'Pluma removere unum phoenix.' A flash of red shot out of my wand and hit the cauldron making it glow a burning scarlet for a moment before a Phoenix feather floated out of the top and rested a few inches above the bubbling water. I snatched it and placed it on the table before I put my wand back in my pocket.

'That was wicked!' Ron said excitedly as I leaned forward and stirred their potion, when it turned dark blue I smiled triumphantly.

'There you go. Make sure you read the rest of the ingredients carefully from here on out,' I teased as I stepped from in between them. I planned to go and help Neville who looked just as distressed as Harry and Ron had, but Professor Snape halted my progression, my eyes flickered over his expression as I tried to determine his mood but it was impossible.

'Where did you learn that spell, Miss Potter?' He asked as he looked down on me.

'What spell Prof-,' I started to deny it but Malfoy cut me off, amused.

'The whole class just saw you do it, Hayley.' He informed me from across the room, when I glanced around I realized he was right, all eyes were on me.

'I read about it in chapter fourteen, Professor.' I sighed in defeat, if anyone was going to be punished it better be me- Harry and Ron hadn't done anything.

'Was that your first time doing it?' He asked, surprising me at my nod his black eyes glittered with surprise before they were emotionless again, 'in that case, well done. Five points to Gryffindor.'

He turned around as began walking around the classroom once again; I just shrugged and walked over to Neville's station giving him a sympathetic smile when I saw how flustered he looked. Neville and Seamus' potion was in such bad shape that I spent the rest of the lesson helping them fix it. After a few spells and a few trips to the ingredient's cupboard, it was finally bubbling the dark blue it was supposed to be. They both thanked me profusely and I told them not to worry about it.

After that lesson I was more than ready for a break, but unfortunately it flew by far to fast and felt like five minutes instead of thirty, so before I knew it we were heading for Herbology with Professor Sprout. We had Herbology with the Ravenclaws and I got partnered with Luna Lovegood. She was really sweet, kind and unique. After we had completed the task on Devil's Snare that was fairly easy as we'd both already read ahead and covered the chapter, Luna started to tell me about Nargles. They commonly lived in mistletoe and they were mischievous and liked to steal people's things for their own amusement. She also went on to tell me about Wrackspurt which travelled through people's minds and made their heads fuzzy. All in all I found it to be a very interesting and enjoyable lesson. Lunch soon followed and before I knew it we were on our way to the lesson I was dreading the most. I linked my arm through Harry's as we made our way to Quirrell's classroom and I could tell that Harry sensed my nerves because he directed me to a table for the both of us, rather than going to sit with Ron.

'G-good afternoon. T-t-oday we will be studying the dangers of trolls. C-can anyone tell me w-why they are in fact so dangerous?' Quirrell asked, looking around the room.

Harry seemed surprised when I didn't raise my hand, but I just didn't want Quirrell's eyes on me if I could help it. It didn't matter anyway; Hermione knew the answer and her hand shot up instantly to tell Professor Quirrell that they were so dangerous because of their low intelligence level. It made them extremely unpredictable and impossible to reason with. That lesson dragged for me, and it wasn't because it was last lesson on a Friday, but because instead of fully engaging with the class my eyes never left the parchment I was making notes on. When the bell finally went to signal the end of the lesson I basically sagged in relief and dragged Harry from the room as quick as possible. When Ron and Hermione finally left the room we all made our way to Hagrid's; he lived in a hut on the edge of the dark forest so it took us a good twenty minute walk to get there, not that I minded. When we arrived Harry reached forward and knocked three times but jumped back abruptly when there was a loud bark and something colliding rather heavily with the door.

'Down, Fang!' Hagrid shouted, there was a shuffling and then the door inched open, revealing Hagrid holding a huge grey dog by the collar; he looked like he was struggling.

'Hello, come on in and make yourselves at home!' Hagrid said and we all did without a word.

'How have you been, Hagrid?' I asked him as I took a seat on a very comfortable armchair, when Fang went straight to Ron and Harry after being released I laughed.

'I've been good, keepin' busy with jobs, mostly. What about you lot?' He went over to the stove and pulled off the screeching kettle to start filling five mugs with tea.

'Really good. I've been enjoying most of my lessons.' I told him, carefully taking the steaming mug out of his hands.

'That's good, what abou' you, Harry?'

'It's been fine, got loads of homework though.' He complained, ignoring the look I gave him, 'and I'm pretty sure Professor Snape hates me.'

I rolled my eyes at that, carefully blowing my tea so it was cool enough for me to sip. Fang came and sat next to the armchair, resting his head on the arm. I scratched his head and he seemed to relax into the fabric of the sofa.

'He don' like most students. I wouldn't take it personally,' Hagrid said as he started to hand out rock cakes. I politely declined saying I was still full from lunch and when I noticed Hermione trying and failing to bite into one I was glad I did.

'He's taken to Hayley quite well,' Hermione commented.

I rolled my eyes and tuned out of the conversation, my eyes catching the newspaper on the side table next to me.

 _GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_

 _Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on the 31_ _st_ _of July, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown._

 _Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken from vault 713. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

 _'But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you,' said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon._

'Isn't this the same vault that we visited Hagrid?' I asked him curiously, holding up the article for clarification.

Hagrid just grunted and avoided my gaze as he offered the group more rock cakes. I shared a look with Harry and handed him the article, when he had read it I could practically see the wheels turning behind his eyes. We both deduced that whatever Hagrid had taken from the vault had been what the wizard who had broken in was after. But we couldn't really figure out what it had been as Hagrid heartily avoided the subject.


	4. Chapter 4

Flying lessons started a week later. Much to Harry, Ron and Hermione's chagrin the Gryffindor's were learning with the Slytherin's. I personally didn't mind, we only had them for Potions as it was at the moment, so an extra double lesson a week really didn't bother me. But that wasn't the popular opinion.

'I can't believe we've been paired with them,' Ron grumbled for the hundredth time since we had come down stairs.

I simply rolled my eyes and listened in on Hermione and Neville's conversation. Neville had been sent a rememberall from his gran, which he was excited about but soon enough they were both talking about how nervous they were for the lesson; the idea of counting on a broom to hold them safely in the air didn't exactly fill them with confidence. Hermione was recalling some flying tips that she had read from my borrowed copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and Neville, as well as a few other muggle-born's, were listening intently. I felt my own lips twitch in amusement but I didn't say anything; in reality I knew that a few facts weren't going to affect how well they rode a broom, but the information seemed to offer them some comfort, so my mouth remained shut. Before we knew it we were heading out to the Quidditch pitch, my arm was linked through Hermione's as I tried to rid her of her anxiety and tell her about the benefits of flying. Eventually, telling her that flying around on a broomstick would contribute to our overall grade, managed to snap her out of her misery and her gaze became more concentrated and focused.

Students arrived before our teacher to find an equal amount of brooms laid out opposite from each other, I could tell that Slytherin were about to take one side with Gryffindor moving to take the other when a loud voice came from behind us.

'None of that segregation in this class, thank you. I would like you all to line up with a member from the opposite house beside you. In other words I would like it to go: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Gryffindor… well you get the idea. Hurry up!' A tall woman with silver hair and yellow eyes said as she walked the pathway in between the broomsticks. She introduced herself as Madam Hooch. We all quickly obeyed her order and I ended up in between Draco and Blaise, which I was grateful for; for I second I thought I was going to end up between Crabbe and Goyle. The others were across from me; Ron was in between Crabbe and Pansy Parkinson, while Harry was in between Pansy and Goyle. Hermione was in between Daphne Greengrass and Theo Knott.

'Now first thing I want you to do, place your hand over the broom at your feet and say: up!' Madam Hooch demanded.

I did as she said and my broom shot into my hand immediately, though mine was one of the few that did; the others were Harry, Draco and Pansy. Draco and I shared a look of pleasure that we had gotten ours to do what we demanded so quickly.

'With feeling now!' Hooch said, addressing the others who were still struggling to fulfill her first instruction.

A few other brooms shot up, including Blaise's, but Hermione and Ron's still hadn't and I could tell that Hermione was getting frustrated. I was about to offer her encouragement when Ron's broom shot up in the air… only to hit him in the nose. I couldn't help my initial reaction as I doubled over laughing; the expression on his face was just too priceless. Harry and Blaise laughed, while Draco merely snorted. Hermione was too focused on getting her broom into her hand that she missed the whole thing.

Eventually, the class had managed to get their brooms in their hands and Madam Hooch was able to move on to the next instruction.

'When I blow my whistle I want you to push off the ground, hover for a moment and then gently lower to your feet.' We mounted our brooms in preparation at her words, waiting while she made her way around the group to make sure we were gripping the brooms properly. She corrected everyone's grips before she made her way back to the far end of all of us.

'One, Two…' she was just about to blow her whistle when someone shot up in the air before her command. I looked over to the other side of Blaise to see Neville hovering in the air.

'Neville! What are you doing?' I shouted so he could hear me as he moved higher and higher in the air.

'I don't know!' Neville sounded horrified.

A million different spells were flying through my head in that moment as I moved to get my wand out of my robe. Madam Hooch had her wand poised and pointed at Neville, but when he flew toward her she quickly dove out of the way, while Neville was heading towards the castle wall. He hit it with a sickening crack and fell to the floor rather quickly, but thankfully I finally had my wand out. I pointed it to his falling figure and said the incantation.

'Aresto Momentum!' Neville came to an abrupt stop a foot from the concrete and softly fell to the floor. Madam Hooch and myself rushed over to him as everyone else stood in shock. I fell to my knees and bought his head to rest on my lap as Madam Hooch turned him so he was on his back as she assessed his injuries. He was currently unconscious and I knew he had hit his head badly against the wall.

'Is he going to be okay?' I asked, concerned.

The other students had unfrozen and were now gathered around us about three feet away.

'Yes, dear. He's hit his head, clearly.' She stared at the gash across his forehead, 'and there appears to be no other injuries. I will escort him to the hospital wing.'

I nodded and kept Neville's head on my lap until she levitated him and headed towards the castle, Neville softly floating in front of her. Before she was out of sight she turned and said loud enough for us all to hear, 'brilliant thinking and reaction time by the way, Miss Potter. Twenty points to Gryffindor.'

I felt my cheeks redden at her praise as she moved out of sight. I hated the attention on me, and the last person I expected to relieve me from it spoke.

'Who fancies a Quidditch game?' Draco said, drawing everyone's attention.

The Slytherin's immediately agreed, but I could tell the Gryffindor's were apprehensive.

'Sounds good to me.' I agreed, which encouraged Ron, Harry, Seamus and Dean to confirm their assent.

Draco, Blaise, Theo, Daphne and Pansy volunteered from the Slytherin's.

'Wicked. I assume we're axing the beater positions as we don't have any bludgers?' Ron confirmed.

Draco nodded after sharing a look with the other Slytherin's.

'Just a few things- what are we using for a quaffle, a snitch and how do we score?' Pansy wondered.

I pursed my lips and glanced over to the Quidditch grounds a devious grin forming on my face.

'The grounds are over there. I say we use them,' I shrugged.

Everyone quickly agreed as we rushed to the grounds, the ones who weren't playing quickly followed behind us. We were delighted to see a chest that, once opened, revealed all of the materials we needed for the game.

'Are you all sure this is a good idea?' Hermione asked, sounding concerned, but she was the only Gryffindor that was.

'It probably isn't but it'll be fun,' I grinned, earning a few laughs, 'don't worry Hermione if we get caught, I got your back.'

That seemed to settle her nerves as the crinkles of concern disappeared from her forehead, so I decided to move on.

'Now we need teams. Are we going for the obvious choice or are we mixing it up a bit?' I challenged, grinning at the interested glint in everyone's eyes, 'how do you feel about mixing houses?'

Surprisingly, everyone shrugged and nodded their assent- though Crabbe and Goyle had no problem in voicing their disgust in Slytherin's and Gryffindor's playing _together._ But no one paid them any mind.

'Who wants to be seeker?' Dean asked, taking over.

Draco and Harry raised their hands. Dean bought them to the front and told them to pick players; in order for it to be equal they promised to pick two from each house. Draco went first and picked me, much to my surprise; I could tell Harry wasn't particularly impressed but I ignored him. Draco smirked at my surprise as I came to stand next to him; after Harry had gathered himself he picked Ron. The picking went on for a few moments until we had a team; Draco was seeker, Dean was keeper and Blaise, Pansy and I were chasers. It worked out that there was one extra of each house on either team- those being the captains- but no one minded.

I was quite familiar with the positions and after a quick handshake with the other Slytherin's I didn't know, I was good to go. We agreed on allowing each team five minutes to come up with a strategy, which Hermione was tasked with timing.

'Right, do we have a plan?' I asked as we stood in a circle, all holding the school's standard cleensweep.

'Yes, you three score as many goals as you can and try and keep an eye on each other; this is a violent sport so don't be surprised if someone tries to knock you off your broom. Theo, keep out the goals, and I'll try and beat Potter for the snitch.' Draco said, his voice sounding confident.

'So stay alive and score. Got it.' Blaise nodded, the expression on his face making me laugh.

'You need to get this, Draco. If you don't catch the snitch and win us the game, I'm never going to hear the end of it.' I muttered, glancing over at Harry and trying to give him an intimidating stare that only made him laugh.

'You _want_ us to win?' Pansy sounded surprised.

'Of course I do. We're on the same team aren't we?' I asked, smiling when she nodded in affirmation, 'good because I need someone to teach me how to glare at my brother in a way that's actually intimidating- he just keeps laughing.' I pouted.

'Why are you trying to intimidate him?' Dean chuckled with a few others.

'He's on the opposing team, aren't we supposed to mess with their game? Who has the scariest glare?' I looked at everyone else, waiting for an answer.

The Slytherin's had an argument between themselves.

'Draco's the scariest.' Blaise offered, making Draco and myself scoff in disbelief.

'Nah, definitely not.' I shook my head, laughing when Draco looked offended, 'sorry, Draco but you don't scare me. Anyone else. Come on, one- or both of you- give my brother the scariest glare you got. I'll get his attention.'

Draco and Dean were biting back their amusement as I shouted for my brother, when he turned around I immediately pointed over to Blaise and Pansy. I wasn't paying attention to my teammates expressions; I was too preoccupied with my brother. When he paled a little I grinned in success and practically launched myself at the pair.

'It worked! We're officially going to win this game!' I was quite happy with the victory while everyone else- even the Slytherin's- was amused at my behaviour.

'Who says snakes and loins can't work well together?' Blaise said, sounding overly cheery, making me grin.

'Are you always this cheery or are you just particularly fond of striking fear in innocent Gryffindor's?' I wondered, my brow quirked in amusement.

'I'm always this delightful. I'm sorry you don't get to see it more often.' Blaise said, sounding particularly sad for me.

'The loss is all mine,' my tone matched his for sadness as everyone else laughed at the pair of us.

'One more minute!' Hermione yelled.

'Right. On three?' Draco said, putting his hand in the middle, I went next followed by Pansy, Dean, and Blaise.

On three we cheered and lifted our hands towards the sky, then we mounted our brooms and shot off in the air, quickly followed by the opposing team. Hermione had promised to have her wand ready encase anyone fell off their broom, so I was feeling particularly good about our impromptu Quidditch match. Hermione released the quaffle, which Pansy shot forward and took, Blaise and I following her progression about three feet either side of her. When Daphne made a move to take it from her I knocked her with enough force to send her falling to the ground. I heard Hermione shout the appropriate incantation before I focused back on the game. Ron was in goal and focused on Pansy, which was his mistake as he missed when Pansy passed the quaffle to Blaise before she dropped and moved into Blaise's position. Noticing his eyes were still on Pansy he threw the ball to me and I made the shot through the middle hoop Ron was supposed to be "guarding". We all shared a triumphant grin and managed to high five before we started after Seamus who now had the quaffle. Blaise took one side while I took the other. The position was enough to make Seamus lose his concentration and made it easy for me to grab the quaffle from his arm and pass it to Pansy who was already flying in the other direction. We had nearly made it half way when I saw Seamus and Daphne heading towards Pansy. Blaise and I shared a look before we effortlessly slid either side of her, blocking her off from attackers. Though I could tell that Daphne was out for blood as she moved to knock me off my broom anyway. I anticipated her move and body bashed her away from me with enough force to send her to the other side of the pitch, but not to send her falling again.

The game quickly flew by and before we knew it our team was winning 150-10. I was starting to wonder if the game was ever going to end when I noticed Harry and Draco both diving towards the ground. It was a close call, but Harry was the one to catch it, much to my displeasure.

'Damn it, Harry!' I yelled, not pleased in the least, 'you clearly cheated.' I said as I effortlessly and gracefully landed on the ground, everyone else following suit, before I walked over to him.

'How did I cheat, Hayley?' Harry asked with an amused grin; he knew I could be a sore loser.

'He didn't cheat.' Draco assured me, offering Harry his hand, 'nice catch, Potter.'

I could tell everyone was surprised at Draco's chivalry, but I wasn't, Draco hadn't been rude to me since the train to Hogwarts so I was used to seeing this side of him. Harry's eyes flickered to me before he took Draco's hand and shook it a few times before releasing it.

'You were unlucky. You almost had it- for a moment there I was sure you were going to win and if you'd scored another twenty points you would have won whether we caught the snitch or not.' Harry pointed out.

Before the conversation could go any further we heard the voice of a distraught Assistant Headmistress.

'What on Earth is going on here?' McGonagall demanded, though I had a feeling she already knew.

'Erm…' I trailed, off unable to think of a suitable excuse. We still had our brooms; Blaise was holding the quaffle and Harry clearly had the snitch. We were all screwed.

'Showing house unity?' Harry offered weakly.

'I would say so- that was a brilliant game! And to think- you're all first years!' McGonagall shook her head in astonishment but that was nothing compared to the rest of us who were staring at her with our mouths hanging open.

'I believe you have all demonstrated excellent Quidditch capabilities. I can't speak for Slytherin but I know there are a few positions on the Gryffindor team that our captain hasn't yet been able to fill. I think from what I've seen today I will be able to convince Dumbledore to bend the first year rule, if anyone wants to try out for their house teams,' McGonagall smirked at all of us and awarded everyone who had been playing five points each before she turned and left as if nothing had happened.

'Did that really just-,' Seamus said.

'Yup. That just happened.' Blaise confirmed, though he sounded like he didn't quite believe it himself.

After we all recovered from shock we made our way to the ground where Madam Hooch left us. The lesson was now over, so after we returned everything, we made our way back to the castle. I was more than ready for a break. Those from Harry's team were still praising him for catching the snitch while Dean was assuring Blaise that we would win next time. Pansy, Blaise and I were complimenting each other's technique as we entered the hall and I was laughing at Blaise saying I was stronger than I looked when I we all noticed that the hall appeared to have gone silent upon our appearance. I glanced around and noticed that everyone was staring at us.

'Why is everyone staring at us?' I whispered as I leaned towards Pansy.

'Probably because notorious house rivals aren't tearing out each others throats.' Blaise mock whispered to the both of us.

'Ugh. House prejudice is one of my least favourite things.' I grumbled as I went to take my seat, I shouted over my shoulder, 'see you in potions.'

Blaise and Pansy grumbled at the reminder while I just laughed, amused that even the Slytherin's didn't like lessons taught by their own head of house. After a moment the Gryffindor's followed my lead and took their seats at our table, the Slytherin's doing the same. That seemed to snap the rest of the school out of their shock as the chatter picked back up again. The rest of the day flew by and before I knew it we were in the last lesson of the day- potions. After this it would be the weekend. I didn't know about Harry but I was planning to go and see Hagrid before dinner and then going to the library. I was pretty sure I had heard him mention something about wizard's chess- I didn't ask- so I didn't think he would be interested in the outing.

'The homework you handed in on Monday varies from acceptable to despicable.' Snape announced as he wrote the task for the day on the chalk board, 'you will get them back at the end of class, and I also expect you to hand in the essay I set you on Monday. I hope it is to better standards. You will have another essay over the weekend due for Monday,' he paused as the classroom groaned, 'and I expect it to be even better than what you hand in today.'

We quickly got on with preparing our potion; today we were creating a salve that was used to heal most flesh wounds. It was so powerful it could heal most ailments with one application, provided it was left on for more than three hours. Draco and I got on with it silently, into a comfortable routine at that point. As usual, we were finished well before anyone else, and after scooping a generous portion of our salve into a jar and engraving our initials into it before we handed it in to professor Snape, we were cleaning up our station.

'You played really well today, you know.' Draco commented as he finished wiping down the surface with a wet cloth. Usually I used my wand, but the phoenix tears he had spilled were a little trickier to clean up.

'Thank you,' I murmured softly, knowing I was blushing at his praise, 'so were you. You'd make a good seeker on the team.'

'Thank you,' he seemed embarrassed by the compliment but he collected himself before saying, 'but I already looked into it- our team is full. But our seeker is in his seventh year so at least I can definitely try out next term.'

'That's great,' I told him with a happy smile, 'I was thinking about trying out. Apparently there's a position for chaser available.'

'Go for it. You were amazing.' Blaise said, turning around from his station to join in on the conversation.

'I think I'll try out but I doubt I'll make it onto the team.' I shrugged as I cleaned the rest of the cauldron with a flick of my wand while Draco went to dispose of the wet cloth.

'I bet you do.' Pansy chimed in, also turning around from her position next to Blaise.

'I think I'd like it. I'd never flown before today and the feeling was just so-,' I tried to describe but I was cut off from Pansy's surprised voice.

'You'd _never_ flown before?'

I blushed and shook my head, avoiding the surprise on all their faces- Draco had now returned and he heard what I said.

'Then you'll definitely get it. You flew like you'd been doing it for years, imagine how great you'd be with a little training.' Draco encouraged, bumping my shoulder gently.

'Well… we'll see.' I shrugged, desperate for a subject change, which Draco seemed to notice as he chimed in.

'How's your salve?' he nodded to their cauldron that contained a dark brown concoction that was supposed to be a pure white. I wrinkled my nose at the sight, which made Blaise and Pansy smirk in amusement.

'Not well,' Blaise said dryly, making me laugh and making Draco smirk.

'Do you want some help?' I asked, not wanting to impose, but I was twitching with the urge to fix it.

'Please,' Pansy murmured quietly; I suspected she didn't want anyone else to hear, I stood in between Blaise and Pansy at their station as they told me what they had already added. I quickly identified the problem.

'Okay you've done everything right, you just need a few more pipettes of phoenix tears.' I said adding three more pipettes of said ingredients. When I was finished a puff of white smoke left the cauldron to reveal a white salve instead of the horrid brown that was present before.

'Thanks, Hayley we owe you one.' Blaise said, squeezing my shoulder gently.

'It's fine.' I shrugged, making my way back to my station after Pansy squeezed my waist in a side hug.

'Please put whatever you have in your cauldrons and hand it in at the front on your way out. Your homework assignments from last week can be collected on your way out and your ones for this week handed in.' Snape announced a rustling commencing after his announcement as people followed his orders.

Everyone exited the classroom slowly; we had to wait for the papers to be exchanged properly before we could leave. I put mine in my bag without looking at the grade; I could check later when I had the time to go over any improvements. When we were finally out of the classroom I didn't even think and found myself following Draco, Blaise and Pansy to the great hall, talking about the pranks that Peeves had pulled the week before. Personally I think that Peeves was the most annoying poltergeist in Hogwarts, but his pranks were quite funny if you weren't on the other side of them. Apparently his favourite thing to do was annoy Filtch as he made his rounds.

'I heard he followed him around all night once, just hurling chalk at him and Mrs. Norris because Filtch threatened to call the Bloody Baron if he unscrewed the hall chandelier.' Blaise informed me, his dark eyes glittering with amusement.

I had my arm linked through Draco's and I followed them to the Slytherin table without much thought, but they didn't seem to mind. Dinner wasn't for three hours but people liked to chill in the hall sometimes beforehand.

'That's brilliant. As long as I'm not on the wrong side of him, Peeves can be pretty funny.' I mused, grinning when Draco and Blaise snorted in agreement.

'I can't believe Snape set another essay. I still have the one for Transfiguration to finish.' Pansy groaned.

'That's rough,' I gave her a sympathetic smile, 'what's the Transfiguration essay on?'

'The process of transforming a comb into a knife.' Pansy rolled her eyes in annoyance, 'what kind of an assignment is that?'

'A Transfiguration one.' Draco said, deadpan. I bit my lip to hold in my laugh; that was something I had noticed about Draco, he had a dry sense of humor that often caught me off guard.

Pansy glared at him in annoyance while Blaise patted her shoulder to calm her down.

'If you want I can give you a hand with it?' I offered when my urge to laugh had passed.

'Why?' Pansy was suspicious.

'Because McGonagall set us the same essay last week so I'm familiar with it. Besides I'm in Gryffindor we can't help but help, a fatal flaw really.' I winked, smiling when Pansy's lips twitched in amusement.

'Okay, then I'd like your help.' She said finally.

'Me too. I don't get that essay either.' Blaise pouted making me roll my eyes in mirth.

'Me three. I'm mostly finished I just don't know what else to add.' Draco chimed in.

I looked at the clock, which indicated it was almost four in the afternoon, 'I have to be somewhere for quarter past but I'll meet you all in the library in an hour?' Once they nodded their assent I bid them farewell and went to visit Hagrid, one thing was for sure- this had been an interesting week and I had lots to tell him. After an hour in which I consumed three cups of tea and denied the offer of a rock cake four times, I found myself going back to the castle and heading straight for the library.

Draco, Blaise and Pansy were already there gathered around a table that seated four people. I took the empty seat next to Draco and dropped my bag to the floor with a thud. Once I had helped with extra things to mention in their essays, they collectively got to work while I got on with my potions essay on the healing salve we had made that day. I found the quiet to be helpful in getting work done and when the bell chimed for dinner I had just put my quill and ink away, finished with the assignment. The Slytherin's finished as well; Pansy and Blaise had done the least so in the few hours we were sitting there they had finished their Transfiguration while I had helped Draco with his potions assignment after he finished the assignment for McGonagall in thirty minutes; he had been telling the truth when he said it was mostly finished. By the time we had packed up for dinner Draco only had his conclusion to do on his potions essay.

We all walked to dinner together, me and Draco going first and Blaise and Pansy following behind. At some point I had linked my arm through Draco's, but I couldn't quite remember doing it; I'd reached the point of being completely comfortable around him.

'Is that impressive?' I asked, my brow cocked in amusement. Blaise was telling us about how Marcus Flint had bought a Ravenclaw into the Slytherin common room. Apparently all of the snakes were impressed by this action.

'Yeah it is. The whole of Slytherin are treating him like a king now. It's so annoying because Flint is a colossal prat,' Pansy rolled her eyes.

'I know a way you can get one over on him.' I smirked, my eyes glittering mischievously.

'How?' Draco sounded curious as we entered the final corridor that would take us to the great hall.

'Bring one of Slytherin's longest standing rivals in there. That'll shift the power for sure.' I smirked when I read the realization in Draco's eyes.

'How are we supposed to get a Gryffindor into the Slytherin common room?' Blaise scoffed in disbelief.

I turned around so that I was walking backwards with my other arm linked through Draco's so that I could give Blaise a proper are-you-being-serious stare. Draco was laughing lightly as he continued walking and Pansy was giving Blaise the same look I was.

' _You_ would go into the Slytherin common room without being threatened or dragged there?' Blaise seemed incredulous.

'Why would you have to threaten me?' I wondered, genuinely amused as I continued to walk backwards.

'Because-,' he started but cut himself off as his eyes lit up with realization, 'you don't care about house rivalries.'

'Well done, Blaise I was starting to think you'd never get there,' I teased with a wink.

Pansy and Draco out right laughed at the mock-offended look on Blaise's face. He reached out and lightly shoved me, which wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't been walking backwards. But I was, and so I went flying backwards and landed on my arse and because I had been holding on to Draco he came with me. His upper half ended up on top of me, while his lower half ended up on the floor. I blinked in shock, but when I saw the dumbstruck expression on Draco's face I couldn't help the laughter that escaped my lips. After a moment he joined in, though his amusement was much more subdued than mine.

'Blaise you idiot,' Pansy scolded, but I could hear the amusement in her tone as well, 'you could have hurt her.'

'Yeah she looks like she's in a lot of pain.' Blaise rolled his eyes, 'I seriously didn't mean to knock you over though, are you okay?'

Blaise helped Draco up and Draco offered me his hand, which I took, still softly chuckling.

'Yeah I'm fine,' I waved my hand dismissively as I leaned down to pick my bag up off the floor, 'but if you've broken my ink pot you can redo all of my homework for me.'

Blaise looked outright distraught as I shoved his shoulder in humor. Draco and Pansy smirked and shook their heads in disbelief.

'So when do you want to come to the common room?' Draco asked before we started walking again.

'We have a later curfew tonight, so I could stop by for a bit?' I suggested as I linked my arm through Draco's again.

'Sure. Come and grab us after dinner.' Pansy said with a nod as we turned to continue walking to the hall.

The stares when we walked into the great hall were ridiculous. I rolled my eyes; I was starting to get used to the stares and whispers wherever I went but it didn't mean I liked it. I assumed it was worse because I looked so friendly with a house that I was supposed to be programmed to hate.

'Imagine if I sat with you. I think the school would revolt.' I muttered in annoyance.

'You're free to sit with us whenever you want.' Draco assured me, a devious glint in his eye.

'I might just take you up on that.' I smiled, looking for my brother in the sea of red, when I located him I noticed that him, Hermione and Ron weren't particularly surprised to see me with the Slytherin's, though that couldn't be said for the rest of the hall- even the teachers were staring in shock.

'You can sit next to me- I want to know all about the Narnia book you were telling me about earlier.' Pansy insisted, linking her arm through my free one.

'Sure. I bought it here with me, actually. Remind me later and I'll bring it down with breakfast tomorrow.' I said as I took a seat in between Draco and Pansy on the Slytherin table- Blaise was sitting across from us with Theo Knott. I realized then why there was someone either side of me- they wanted me to be protected from any prejudiced Slytherin's.

'That would be brilliant. I need to read something that isn't for school otherwise I'm going to go insane.' Pansy shook her head as if she were trying to prevent it from happening.

'I hear you,' I chuckled as I took the bowl of potatoes Draco offered me and added some to my plate before passing it to Pansy.

We chatted companionably as we ate our main course and dessert and before we sang the house song, Dumbledore stood to make an announcement.

'Today Professor McGonagall witnessed something rather encouraging. She saw some first year students playing Quidditch while Madam Hooch took an injured student to the hospital wing.' Dumbledore paused as the confusion in the room caused students to whisper to each other, 'usually this would call for immediate expulsion, but what has me holding off on that particular punishment is the fact that the teams were _mixed._ That's right. Slytherin's and Gryffindor's played against each other in teams that contained members of their house and members of another house.'

I felt myself shrinking down to avoid attention that I was hoping wasn't going to come my way. I didn't know if Dumbledore was going to mention specific names but I had already had enough attention today and I didn't want any more.

'Because of the maturity displayed and the unity, we have decided to lift a rule. First years are now allowed to try out for Quidditch.' Dumbledore announced, his voice filled with joy. His announcement had mixed reactions; first years were pleased, while the houses above them ranged from not bothered to outraged that first years get to try out earlier than they did. I just tuned it all out as we were dismissed; clearly Dumbledore saw that no one was in the mood to sing the school song. I left the hall with the four Slytherin's, Theo looked confused as to why I was walking with them but he didn't question it. As we made the trip to the common room, I noticed that we were heading towards the dungeons and I felt myself shiver as the temperature drastically dropped.

'Is there any reason that the little lion is following us to the snake pit?' Theo asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

'Flint bought a Ravenclaw, we've got a Gryffindor.' Blaise summed up rather concisely, 'though it was her idea.' Blaise gestured to me.

I just shrugged on response to Theo's surprise, I was starting to get sleepy and a sleepy Hayley wasn't a talkative Hayley. We reached the entrance and I didn't pay attention as they muttered the password and we all climbed through. It was very spacious, much bigger than the Gryffindor common room, and decorated with green, black and silver. Draco led me over to one of the plush black couches in front of the fire; I assumed he wasn't accustomed to how cold the room was either.

'Is she a Gryffindor?' A tall boy with huge buckteeth asked, I was about to berate him for talking about me like I wasn't there but Draco discretely squeezed my arm so I remained silent.

'Clearly, Flint. Is there a problem?' Draco took on the tone that he hadn't used with me since the train; I heard him use it to those he wasn't closest to often enough. I was surprised at how quickly Flint backed off, clearly Draco held more power in Slytherin than I realized.

Draco's mask faltered for a split second, revealing his confusion, when he noticed my smirk. Before I could blink it was gone and his mask of arrogance was once again on full display.

'I had no idea you were so powerful,' I teased as I made myself comfortable on the sofa.

'Well I _did_ try and tell you if I recall but you weren't interested.' Draco remarked, returning my smirk.

I rolled my eyes in amusement as I glanced around the room. I noticed a window that appeared to look in on the black lake. I noticed a swarm of mer-people swim past and I was in awe.

'That's my favorite part of the common room.' Pansy commented when she noticed where I was staring.

'It's brilliant.' I told her honestly.

'Right lets kick off the weekend then, shall we?' Blaise grinned mischievously across from me, 'who's up for a game of truth or dare?'

'Ugh not this again,' Pansy rolled her eyes; Draco had a similar reaction while Theo just grinned in excitement.

'Come on, guys. We have to give Hayley the proper Slytherin treatment.' Blaise teased, leaning over to pat my shoulder.

'I don't know if I want it.' I muttered; Draco and Pansy's reactions weren't exactly encouraging.

Blaise chuckled before holding his hands up in surrender, 'alright. I promise that this game won't get as… weird as our other games.'

'That means nothing to me. I wasn't here for the other games so I have no way of knowing how "weird" the game could get.' I raised my brow in protest.

'Alright, little Gryffindor.' Blaise pursed his lips as he pondered, 'if we cross a line all you have to say is "I am Hayley Potter and I'm hopelessly in love with Blaise Zabini!" How's that?'

'Much better.' I muttered dryly, ignoring the sniggers from everyone else.

'Wonderful. Let's begin.' He placed his wand on the table and span it after saying that whoever it landed on would have to pick truth or dare, when we had decided the spinner would come up with the truth or dare. Once answered, the one who had been asked and the same actions would be taken.

The wand span around a total of ten times before it landed on me, I looked up at Blaise's grinning face and narrowed my eyes.

'What a surprise.'

'Hey I didn't do anything,' he laughed, then he composed himself and continued, 'truth or dare?'

'Dare,' I sighed.

'I dare you to kiss…' he dragged it out as if to make me nervous, but when I showed no signs of dread he continued, 'Draco.'

'Oh please,' I rolled my eyes and kissed Draco on the cheek, secretly delighted when his cheek reddened slightly, 'is that the best you got?'

Blaise seemed thrilled with my backbone while everyone else just seemed shocked. I leaned forward to ready myself to spin his wand, 'if I get you Blaise I'm gonna make yours much more interesting.' Then I span it, when Blaise gulped loudly I couldn't help but snigger.

The wand landed on Theo instead and when he chose truth rather than dare I found myself pondering the question before I decided.

'What's the best and worst thing about Hogwarts for you?' I asked, figuring it was safe.

'Best thing, being away from home. Worst thing… being ignored by the other houses because they expect us to be evil.' Theo answered immediately, not even having to think about it.

He leaned forward and spun the wand before anyone could add anything. He landed on Pansy and she chose dare.

'I dare you to kiss Hayley… on the lips.' Theo said, grinning like he'd just declared the impossible.

Pansy rolled her eyes at his immaturity as she placed her hand on Draco's knee to lean over him. I met her in the middle and we shared a chaste kiss; it reminded me of the way Uncle Vernon would kiss his own mother in greeting- before she died, of course.

The boys were shocked and didn't even notice when Pansy leaned forward to spin the wand again. It landed on Draco this time and when he chose dare I wondered what she was going to get him to do; she seemed to be pondering for quite a while.

'I dare you to tell Professor Snape that you're afraid you'll be alone forever.' She smiled smugly when she saw the horror on Draco's face.

'Someone will have to go with him to make sure he does it.' Theo said through his laughter.

'No, I'll take a forfeit. If I say that to Snape then my father will hear about it.' He glared at Pansy and the smile fell off her face as she realized he was right.

'Sorry, Draco I forgot.' She apologized.

He just waved her off as he asked Blaise what his forfeit was going to be.

'You have to tell Harry that you kissed his sister.' Blaise grinned like a cat that ate the canary.

'What exactly do you think he'll do?' I was amused.

'I don't know, but it'll be fun to find out.' Blaise insisted.

I sighed in relief when the warning bell for curfew rang, meaning we had thirty minutes to get to our dorms.

'You can either do it now, or tomorrow in front of everyone else.' I told Draco.

He stood with a sigh and followed me out of the room, ignoring the others who were cackling from the sofas we abandoned.

'I would say that I'd lie for you. But we both know Theo and Blaise probably can't wait to tease Harry about it.' I muttered as we walked, Draco nodded in agreement. We walked in silence for a few minutes before Draco spoke.

'Just so you know, if he tries to hex me, I will defend myself.' He said.

'I don't think he knows any hexes, Draco, so don't worry.' I linked my arm through his without thinking about it as we continued to the common room.

'How doesn't he know any hexes?' Draco sounded shocked and I wondered what the wizarding world actually knew about how Harry and me grew up.

'We were raised by our mothers sister. Aunt Petunia and her husband, Uncle Vernon. They're muggles. Harry and I didn't even know about magic until Hagrid came to get us on our birthday.' I told him, I noticed that he wasn't disgusted by the mention of muggles and I felt myself relax a little.

'So you didn't know about… _anything?_ ' he sounded astounded.

'Nope. Didn't know about Voldemort, either. Our Aunt and Uncle told us they died in a car crash,' I admitted softly, talking about my parents wasn't something I was used to; Harry and I don't even really talk about them. If we asked around Petunia and Vernon, it usually resulted in a smack on the mouth, so eventually we learned to never mention it, not even to each other.

'I'm sorry.' Draco's soft voice jolted me out of my thoughts, 'you didn't deserve to lose your parents like that.'

'Thank you.' I smiled, squeezing his arm in gratitude.

'Hayley! There you are I've been looking all over for you!' Harry's voice came from behind us on the staircase. He, Hermione and Ron stepped onto it and it started to move straight away.

'What's happening?' Harry asked, everyone gripped the railings while my hand tightened on Draco's arm.

'The staircases like to change, remember?' Hermione reminded them, as I tried not to fall when the stairs came to an abrupt stop.

We all quickly came off and I vaguely registered Draco and Harry talking as I tried to figure out what staircase we would need to take to get us back to the common room. The sound of shouting snapped my concentration and I looked over to the group to see Hermione and Ron holding back Harry.

'What the hell?' I frowned.

'Malfoy kissed you?' Harry was furious, which made me roll my eyes.

'Okay first of all, I kissed him in a game of truth or dare. Him telling you that was his forfeit.' He relaxed as I explained, but I wasn't done with him yet, 'second of all, if Draco had kissed me then that isn't something for you to go all terminator about.'

'Ley-,' Harry started to explain, fidgeting, but I cut him off.

'Third of all, the final bell went a few minutes ago while you were acting crazy and I'm pretty sure Filtch is heading this way.' I added, my tone not portraying the panic I felt.

We all paused and when we heard a cat meow I ushered everyone down the poorly lit corridor, the fire lanterns we passed as we ran started to light up much to my dismay. Surely this was going to lead Filtch right to us?

When we came to a sudden stop I was confused until I heard Ron and Harry scrambling at the locked door.

'Let Hermione handle it.' I said with a roll of my eyes- she was near the front so it would be easier for her to do it.

'Alohamora.' Hermione whispered and the door clicked open, we all scurried through, me closing the door silently behind me.

Draco and I were facing each other in the doorway while the other three were stood about a step back from the lip of the door, side by side with their backs to the room.

'What is it my sweet?' Filtch's voice came through the door, I covered my mouth with my hand in an effort to stop my heavy breathing.

I thought I could hear the door to the corridor close but I waited for a moment to make sure he was actually gone.

'That was close,' Ron said, sounding like he was about to pass out from the relief.

'Very.' Hermione and Harry said at the same time.

I turned to look at them but when I did my eyes widened in horror. Not because it wasn't a magnificent animal, because really it was, I just didn't like how it was looking at the three Gryffindor's who were clueless to its presence. I nudged Draco's arm and he followed my gaze, his arm immediately moving to find the latch on the door behind me.

'Guys when I say go, I want you to make a run for it.' I murmured so softly I was worried they didn't hear me, but the confusion on Harry's face suggested otherwise.

'Why-,' Ron started, turning around to follow my gaze, when he did he immediately screamed and ran towards the door. Of course I was in the way and he ended up pushing me into the wood and crushing the hand that Draco was trying to use to open the door. Everyone started screaming in unison and I turned around, gently moved Draco's hand off the latch and opened it myself, all of us piling through and nearly falling on top of each other. When I noticed that Hermione still hadn't made it over I grabbed her arm and yanked her over the threshold before slamming the door on the three-headed twenty-foot dog that was behind it.

All that could be heard was the barking of the three-headed dog and five pairs of feet hitting the floor as we all sprinted to get away. When we made it out of the corridor we all paused to regain our breath.

'What-the-bloody—hell was _that_?' Ron panted.

'Well I don't think it was a unicorn.' Draco muttered sarcastically, making me and Hermione snort.

'Why would they have that here?' Harry wondered, his cheeks a little flushed from the extersion.

'God knows.' Ron mumbled.

'Well in all fairness, we weren't supposed to be there.' I said once I could finally breathe again.

At everyone's questioning looks, Hermione elaborated, 'it's the third floor corridor, Dumbledore warned us, remember?'

Realization struck the boys' faces as we started to walk again.

'Did you notice what it was standing on?' Hermione asked.

'A trap door. Rather interesting, don't you think?' I answered and Hermione and I shared a smirk.

'Yes, Hayley, what it was standing on was _much_ more interesting than the snarling heads that were trying to eat us.' Draco snarked, but I could tell he was only jesting so I nudged his arm playfully but said nothing.

After I told Draco to be careful, he parted ways with us and headed back to the Slytherin common room. The boys were still talking about how horrifying it was that there was a three-headed dog in the castle, while Hermione and I just trailed behind silently, each of us constructing our own theories in our heads.

'It has to be guarding something.' I finally said, and Hermione nodded in agreement. I had a feeling I knew what it was- Hagrid taking that thing from vault 713 and then a three-headed dog guarding something in the castle couldn't have been a coincidence. I wondered what could be so important to be deemed safer in Hogwarts rather than Gringotts. But I didn't dwell on it for too long- without more information there was no way I would be able to figure it out. Hermione seemed to determine the same as the concentration vanished from her eyes to be replaced with exhaustion, a feeling I was quite familiar with myself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

After encountering the three-headed dog, life returned to normal. Harry and I both secured places on the Quidditch team, though we were told not to tell anyone and the rest of the team was sworn to secrecy. We had been sneaking out and getting practice in. Wood- the team captain- wanted me to connect with the other two chasers and he wanted Harry to practice catching the snitch with others around him, just as he would in an actual Quidditch game. My nerves before trying out were horrendous, but Harry managed to calm me down and when I was on the broom, I just felt _free_ like I belonged. Angelina, Katie and I coordinated together perfectly- it was almost as if we had been teammates for years rather than weeks. The rest of the team didn't seem to mind two first years joining their team and I particularly got on well with the Weasley twins- teasing George about Angelina was the highlight of my practices.

Draco said he wouldn't say anything about the dog, especially seeing as we had no idea what the heck was going on. I had personally been keeping myself distracted with classes and making sure I was ready for the game that was now tomorrow.

'I can't believe it is Halloween already.' Luna muttered as she reached for the bowl of mash potatoes in the centre of the table. I had managed to convince her to join the Gryffindor's for dinner tonight, and she seemed perfectly comfortable much to my relief.

I nodded in agreement but otherwise remained silent; my mind was somewhere else in that moment. It was Friday, this week had passed just as quickly as any other and the first Quidditch match of the season was staring me right in the face. Harry didn't seem to have realized that yet but I wasn't surprised, we were different in that way. I freaked out the day before, but when it finally arrived I was calm. Harry wouldn't be worried until tomorrow. We balanced each other out in that way- he could calm me when I was freaking out and vice versa.

'Ley you'll be great tomorrow. I know you will even if you don't know it yet.' Harry's arm was slung around my shoulders as he murmured to me quietly. I knew he was doing it so no one else overheard and I was grateful.

I felt the tension leave me as I sighed, calmed by his words. I rested my head on his shoulder as he rubbed my back comfortingly. I could feel people's curious gazes on us but I didn't let it bother me; I was used to it by now. Harry and I were annoyingly "popular" at Hogwarts, in the sense that people saw it appropriate to stare at us as if we were mythological creatures come to life. We both hated it, but that didn't stop them. Now that I wasn't staring at the untouched food on my plate, I noticed that a certain bushy-haired girl was nowhere to be seen.

'Where's Hermione?' I asked as I removed my head from Harry's shoulder.

Harry and Ron shared a look, and I knew whatever it was wasn't going to be good before Neville answered.

'Apparently she's in the girls bathroom. Some girls were saying she's been in there all day- crying.' Neville said before turning back to the conversation on his other side.

'Why would she be crying?' I demanded, looking in between my brother and the red head sat across from me.

'Ron said something mean about her after charms and she heard.' Harry said, looking anywhere but my face.

'What did you say?'

'She kept reprimanding me for how I was pronouncing the spell so I was moaning about that and then I may have said something like it was no wonder she doesn't have any friends.' Ron's voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear him.

'Oh you prat!' I all but shouted at him, Harry's hand on my shoulder was the only thing stopping me from lunging across the table at him, 'first of all she was correcting you because she was trying to _help_ you. Second of all she does have friends, I consider her one of my best friends and I'm pretty sure she considers you one of hers and you saying that has clearly really hurt her. You'd better apologise for it, Ronald Weasley or I promise you, you will regret it.'

Ron gulped nervously and glanced over for Harry, probably seeking reassurance but my twin just held his hands up in a "you asked for it" gesture. I used his hand off my shoulder to my advantage and stood up, ignoring the lingering stares of the Gryffindor's- our argument had thankfully not been loud enough to carry over to the rest of the hall.

'Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find her and tell her what an absolute arse you are and try and convince her that she's better off without you as a friend.' I told him before turning and leaving without waiting for a response.

Before I made it to the exit, however, my hand was snagged and I fell to the side with a squeak.

'Bloody hell, shouting my name would have sufficed, you know.' I rolled my eyes at the Weasley twins, shaking my head at their grins.

'We just wanted to know what our darling brother has done this time.' Fred said, his grin melting away and forming a frown.

'Fred-,' I started but I was cut off by their disbelieving stares, 'what?'

'You can tell us apart?' George squeaked, 'our own mother can't even do that!'

'What kind of sorcery is this?' Fred asked, his hand to his heart as if the news was distressing.

'I don't know,' I shrugged, 'I just can. Harry can too. Maybe it's a twin thing?'

They both nodded and made sounds of enlightenment before I filled them in on what was happening between Ron and Hermione. Both of their expressions darkened as they stared over at their youngest brother. Personally, I was grateful to not be at the end of that look.

'Our dearest brother throws his friends under the bus when his ego takes a hit,' Fred shook his head in annoyance.

'It seems that way, George. I believe he needs to learn a lesson.' George smirked, and I could see the wheels turning behind their eyes.

'Whatever you're planning, count me in. But I really need to get to Hermione guys.' I told them, squeezing a shoulder each before I left the hall and virtually sprinted toward the bathroom.

When I reached it, the sounds of sobbing were unmistakable and I braced myself as I walked over to the only locked stall.

'Hermione?' the sobbing stopped, 'it's me. Can you open the door please?'

It took a little more coaxing, but eventually the door opened with a loud creak. I walked forward and pulled her into a hug immediately, rubbing her back and letting her sob into my shoulder. When she appeared to be all cried out, I pulled back from her to look her in the eye.

'Ron was being a prat, he didn't like that you were better at the spell, so he lashed out at you. Completely uncalled for, if you ask me but you have to know what he said isn't true. Hermione, I consider you one of my best friends.' I told her, never breaking eye contact so she could see the sincerity in my gaze. I saw her brown orbs brighten considerably before I was struggling for breath as she hugged me. Hard.

'We should get back to the hall. If you've been in here all afternoon, you must have an appetite.' I said when she had pulled back again.

Hermione nodded as she wiped the tears away from her cheeks, 'just let me splash my face with some cold water first.'

I nodded, 'I don't understand why Ron lashed out at you and not me. We both got that spell pretty fast.'

'Multiple reasons,' Hermione said, taking a paper towel from the holder to dab her face dry, 'because you're his best friends sister, because I was trying to help him and he didn't want it even if he needed it.'

'He's going to need to get over that or get used to me hexing him.' I muttered, meaning every word. Hermione smiled, seeming touched by my loyalty.

'Was there any pumpkin pie?' She asked as she linked her arm through mine.

'Was there any pumpkin pie?' I snorted, 'Hermione it's Halloween, if there weren't the castle would be in serious trouble.'

The bushy haired girl laughed as we turned to head back to the feast, only to see a fifteen-foot mountain troll blocking the exit. It was holding a wooden club that was about the size of a tree trunk and wearing a dumbfounded expression.

'Hermione.' I murmured out the corner of my mouth, not wanting to make any sudden movements.

'Yes?' Her tone was just as quiet.

'Any ideas?' I asked, as we both started to step slowly backwards, the troll hadn't moved yet but I had a feeling that was because it hadn't actually realized we were moving.

'Nope. You?' She sounded how I felt: terrified.

Before I could respond, the troll snapped from its daze and charged forward, swinging it's club in our direction. I immediately pushed Hermione to the floor and ducked myself, but the club _clipped_ my shoulder, with enough force to send me crashing into the sinks. I groaned in pain as my forehead smacked the sink before I fell to the ground with a thud. Ouch.

'Are you ok?' Hermione whispered, I groaned in answer as I shuffled out from underneath the row of sinks. When the trolls club went through the one that I had just been underneath, I flinched.

'Ley! Move!' I looked up into Harry's worried orbs and lunged forward, once again just missing out on being crushed with the club.

'Hey over here!' Hermione shouted, trying to gain the trolls attention, to no avail. Apparently it _really_ wanted to kill me first.

I saw the boys throwing pieces of rubble from the toilet stalls at it, also trying to move its focus from me, but when that didn't work Harry pulled out his wand and charged at it. I think I screamed his name in horror as I watched him shove his wand up the troll's nose, the former groaning out in discomfort as it tried to remove Harry from its back.

'Oi! Pea brain!' Ron shouted, throwing another piece of rubble at it, but it didn't seem to notice.

I scrambled in my robes for my wand and when I came up empty I remembered it was still in my school bag in the great hall. Damn. I gasped as the troll grasped Harry in its hand and held him out at arms length before taking a swing at him with the club that was grasped in its other hand.

'Harry! Move!' I shouted from underneath the sink. He managed to lift himself out of the way just in time.

'Do something!' Harry pleaded.

'What?' Ron seemed baffled.

'Anything!' Harry ducked away from the club again.

'Your wand, Ron!' I reminded him, silently vowing to stop keeping my wand in my bag.

Ron pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at the trolls club.

'Swish and flick,' Hermione reminded him, already knowing what spell he was going to do.

'Wingardium Leviosa!' Ron shouted.

The club stayed where it was, and fell out of the trolls grasp as he tried to hit Harry again. The troll looked confused as to what had happened and when it saw his club floating in the air, it looked concerned and dropped Harry to the floor. I quickly reached out and pulled my twin next to me, holding him close incase we needed to move out of the way. The club fell on the trolls head with a _crack,_ knocking the troll unconscious before it toppled to the ground.

Hermione moved out from underneath the broken pieces of wood and walked over to Harry and me.

'Is it dead?' She wondered.

Harry helped me to stand before he stepped forward and pulled his wand out of the trolls nose, it groaned but otherwise stayed put. A long string of snot followed the wands exit and I cringed, my nose wrinkling in disgust.

'I don't think so.' Harry said, 'just knocked out.' I saw him move as if to wipe the phlegm on his robes and I stopped him.

'Do _not_ wipe that on your robes!' I scolded him and handed him a handful of paper towels from the dispensary. Harry gave me a sheepish look before taking them from me and wiping his wand clean. Before anyone could say anything else, teachers suddenly joined us in the bathroom.

'What-,' McGonagall looked at the troll in wonder before seeing the four of us stood side by side next to it, 'explain yourselves!'

We all started talking at once, saying completely different things.

'Well-,'

'That troll-,'

'I just needed the bathroom-,'

'They didn't know-,'

When Snape held out a hand our mouths snapped shut.

'If I may, Professor, perhaps these four were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.' Snape drawled, his eyes flickering over us all.

'Yes! That is exactly right!' I agreed, trying to ignore the pounding in my head; that fall I had taken earlier had really hurt; my head was killing and so was the shoulder that had been caught by the club.

'Very well. Five points will be awarded to each of you,' McGonagall's eyes flickered to the troll, 'for sheer dumb luck!'

She left the room with a swish of her robes, the others may have followed but I wasn't sure; my gaze was becoming unfocused.

'Harry.' I could hear the alarm in my voice as I gripped my twin's arm tightly.

'Ley, what is it?' He asked, sounding worried.

I tried to answer but I was overcome with nausea and didn't want to risk throwing up, which I was sure would happen if I opened my mouth there and then.

'Did Miss Potter gain any injuries?' A voice that sounded like Professor Snape's asked.

'Yes sir. It caught her with the club on her shoulder and hit her head on the sink.' Hermione told him.

I stumbled a little when someone grabbed my free arm and slowly turned me around.

'Open your eyes, Miss Potter.' The voice demanded, with a groan I did as I was told and struggled to keep them open as Professor Snape waved his illuminated wand in front of my pupils.

'It appears she has a slight concussion.' Snape said, catching my arm as I stumbled again.

'P-perhaps you s-should taker her to t-the hospital wing. I-I'll take c-care of this.' I noticed Professor Quirrell for the first time, his appearance accompanying the feeling of unease in my gut.

'No. I'm fine. I think I'll just go to bed.' I tried to sound convincing but from Snape's hard expression, I assumed I failed.

'You just need a potion to counter the effects of the concussion and Madam Pomphry can heal your bruise in a few minutes.' Snape said, his tone clipped but his eyes seemed worried.

'Come on, Ley.' Harry took my hand in his own, 'you need to be in top shape for Quidditch tomorrow or Wood will kill you.'

'Fine.' I sighed, 'can Harry come with me?'

Snape looked like he was about to disagree but he must of read the panic on my face because he gave a swift nod.

'See you in the common room.' I said to Hermione and Ron as I leaned on Harry.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

'Come on, get a bit of toast in you at least.' Ron tried to encourage.

'Ron's right, Harry, you're going to need your strength today.' Hermione added.

Harry paid them no mind, just moving the bacon around the plate with his fork.

'Don't play with your food Jay,' I lightly nudged his shoulder with my recently healed one.

'I'm not hungry,' Harry grumbled.

I threw my arm around his shoulders and squeezed comfortingly, 'you're going to be great. You've trained hard for this, Harry. You're going to catch the snitch and we're going to beat Slytherin, and the chances of that will be better if you're playing on a full stomach.' My voice was only loud enough for him to hear, when I was finished I gave him one final squeeze before pulling away, finishing my own breakfast.

Harry sighed, but I knew that was a sign that his nerves were leaving him. When I saw him dig into his breakfast with fervor, I smirked into my pumpkin juice.

'You two are close.' Hermione commented.

Harry and I shared a look before we shrugged at the same time.

'Twins usually are. Right Fred?' I turned to see the twin walking past, probably heading over to George.

'Firecracker, _how_ did you do that?' Fred sounded astonished as he squeezed into the seat next to me.

'It's a gift.' I winked, shoving the last of my sausage into my mouth.

'What are you little Gryffindor's talking about this morning anyway?' Fred asked, taking a piece of toast from the centre of the table.

'Just how close twins are, you can vouch for us right?' I said, nudging him playfully.

'Definitely.' Fred nodded eyeing Harry and I as if he were searching for any sign of pregame nerves, when he didn't find any he moved on, 'there are none closer than twins. We are the yin to each others yang.' His tone was exaggerated to make light of it, but from the seriousness in his eyes, I knew he was being serious, and he couldn't have been more right.

Eventually, George joined us as well and we all ate and chatted together companionably. We were about to head over to the pitch when a loud squawking drew our attention to the open windows at the top of the great hall. It was Aphrodite and Hedwig; both were carrying long rectangular parcels wrapped in brown paper. They landed next to each other in front of Harry and I. After we stroked them and offered them some breakfast, we both reached forward to rip them open, only to find they were identical; we both had a brand new Nimbus 2000. I looked over to my twin, to ask him if this was his doing but my mouth snapped shut when I noticed his amazement mirrored my own. He hadn't done this, and neither had I.

'Nimbus 2000's!' Fred and George said together.

Hermione was the least excited; to her it was just a broom, but Ron was staring at them with his mouth hanging open.

'Who?' Harry spluttered, looking to me for an explanation.

I just shook my head in confusion, about to tell him I had no clue, when my eyes caught sight of the head table. Or rather, the Professor who was smiling knowingly over at my twin and I. My lips formed a grateful smile and I nudged Harry's shoulder, gesturing to McGonagall.

'She got these?' Harry asked.

'I guess she's routing for us more than we realized,' I laughed a little, standing from the table and grabbing my new broom.

'We're basically guaranteed a win now,' the Weasley twins cheered as they trailed behind Harry and I.

'I hope it doesn't mess up our plays.' I said as we made our way to the field, 'I've been practicing on a Cleansweep—what if the speed throws me off?'

'You'll get used to it, don't worry. It doesn't matter what the broom is, you handle it the same way,' Ron assured me, with a pat to my shoulder.

When we had gotten back to the common room last night, Ron and Hermione had been waiting up for us. We all muttered 'thank you' and 'sorry' and after that the tension that had been present between us during the feast had dissipated. I personally thought we had the troll to thank; defeating it together had been a real bonding experience.

Ron and Hermione left us to make their way to the Gryffindor stands, while the rest of us went to the changing room—no one was actually getting dressed but it was where Wood wanted to give us all a motivational speech before the game. Well that was what was supposed to happen, but he spent ten minutes practically drooling over our brooms. The rest of the team was ecstatic, and I was happy they were happy though I was a little uncomfortable with the attention.

'Are you nervous?' Harry asked me as we made our way out to the pitch side by side, behind the captain.

'A little.' I admitted, smiling at my twin when he squeezed my hand by way of offering comfort.

'We've got this.' Harry assured me. I took a deep calming breath before offering him a nod.

We walked onto the pitch, and the screams from the different houses were a little surprising, but I found that for the first time I didn't hate the attention. As if we had practiced it, we all mounted our brooms and flew into position, waiting for Madam Hooch to start the game.

My eyes narrowed on Marcus Flint, who was smirking at me in a way that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I wasn't intimidated; I knew how much of a prat he was from Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Theo. Seeing as Harry and I were the only first years on the team, Wood had made sure that we were prepared to essentially spar with seventh years; he had taught us how to body check and defend ourselves when we needed to. So I was more than ready to handle whatever Flint clearly wanted to throw at me.

'Now I want a nice clean game.' Hooch warned, her yellow eyes flickering in between both teams, 'no one in the hospital wing.'

She took out her wand, freeing the snitch and the bludgers—the snitch took off after fluttering around both seekers, while the bludgers hovered a few feet in the air. Hooch took out the quaffle, holding it in her hand. She placed the whistle in between her lips and blew it at the same moment she blew the metal instrument between her lips.

As soon as the quaffle was airborne, I dashed forward holding back my excited giggle at how fast the broom went. I ignored Flint's surprise that I was the one who went for it and quickly snatched the quaffle, heading for the opposing teams hoop. I feigned aiming for the net and passed it to Katie on my left who then passed it to Angelina who scored with ease. We all fist pumped the air, smiling cheerfully and repeated the process again and again. Honestly I couldn't keep the smile off my face—flying just had that affect on me I guessed. Katie had just snatched the quaffle, and we were making our way to the Slytherin's hoops when Flint and another Slytherin I didn't recognize came either side of the brunette, essentially trapping her between them. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and whistled over to the Weasley twins. When I caught Fred's eye, I gestured to Kate and after grabbing George's attention they took off in her direction. Fred aimed a bludger at Flint, sending him crashing to the ground and with him gone, Katie had no problem body checking the other Slytherin away from her. With that taken care of, we returned to our play with me scoring the goal this time.

Angelina snatched the quaffle from one of the Slytherin chasers and we started to make our way over to score again, but just as I passed it to Katie after it had been passed to me, my broom started trembling.

'What the-,' I started to mutter but ended up screaming when my broom started throwing itself backwards and then forwards without pause.

Before I could even comprehend what was happening, I was fully off my broom, the only thing holding me up in the air was my grip on the end of the Nimbus 2000, which was slowly loosening.

'Hayley!' Wood yelled, sounding concerned.

I looked over to where the voice was coming from, only to see my twin having the same issue. I frowned, trying to concentrate and not panic. There had to be an explanation for this. Brooms didn't just freak out of their own accord… unless they were bewitched. My gaze went over to the teachers' stand and I saw Quirrell maintaining eye contact, his stare unblinking as he mumbled under his breath. I looked over to the red and gold stand, gesturing over to the teachers stand when I caught Hermione's eye. She borrowed Ron's binoculars and offered me a nod before she hurried out of the stand.

'Harry! Hold on!' I yelled over to my brother, concerned from the pained expression he was making.

'What is going on?' Angelina asked, coming to fly next to me.

'I don't know, but never mind me—you need to keep the game going.' I nodded over to Flint who was making his way to our goal with a smirk.

'Hayley-,' Katie started to protest.

'If you let Flint get one up on us we'll never hear the end of it. Go, I'll be fine I promise.' I smiled at them, relieved that they listened to me.

I looked over and noticed Harry climbing back onto his broom, and I was about to do the same as I realized my broom wasn't frantically jolting anymore, but my grip wasn't strong enough and the polished wood slipped out from between my fingers, sending me falling to the ground. I barely bit back a scream as the grass got closer and closer to my face, just as imminent death seemed unavoidable I shut my eyes and braced for the impact. But it never came.

'Hayley? Are you alright?' a feminine voice caused my eyes to snap open.

'Oh sweet lord,' I muttered, readjusting myself so I was properly sat on the broom, 'thanks Katie.'

'No problem.' She grinned.

We both looked over to my twin on the ground when we heard the cheering; he had caught the snitch. Gryffindor had won.

'I can't believe it! For a second there I thought you were both done for!' Ron exclaimed, not noticing the way Harry and I grimaced.

'Believe me so did I,' I muttered dryly, linking my arm through Hermione's as she joined us.

We were walking back to the common room to change before dinner.

'Are you alright? That was pretty scary.' Hermione looked between Harry and I, her brow crinkled with concern.

'Yeah, good timing with breaking Quirrell's concentration by the way,' I praised her, frowning at her confusion.

'Quirrell? Hayley, Snape was the one who was bewitching your brooms.' Hermione said.

'No, Quirrell was mumbling under his breath and he wouldn't break eye contact.' I told her, my voice sure.

'That's weird,' Ron muttered, chipping into our conversation, 'Snape wasn't blinking either.'

'Do you think they were working together? Or that one was trying to save us from the other?' Harry wondered, eyes shining with worry.

'All I know is when we first met Quirrell in Diagon Alley, he's given me the creeps,' I shrugged.

'The night of Halloween, Quirrell was the one who said that there was a troll in the dungeon.' Ron remembered.

'And Snape was limping at breakfast this morning.' Hermione commented.

'And the thing that Hagrid took from Gringotts is sitting under a vault guarded by a three-headed dog.' I muttered, biting my lip as I thought.

'We should ask Hagrid. If we come to him with enough facts, he might help us figure it out,' Harry said.

We stepped into the common room, my arm still linked through Hermione's, while we followed after Ron and Hermione. I realized then that the twins had left us at some point, thankfully—I didn't know what they would make of our ramblings.

'We'll go and see him then,' I said, my voice carrying finality, 'after dinner.'

After we were showered and dressed in normal clothes—the perks of it being the weekend—we made our way down to the dining hall. Hermione and I went down arm in arm—Ron and Harry had already left. I wouldn't have been surprised if Ron had been complaining about how hungry he was. When we entered the hall, I was surprised when the four Slytherin's I was starting to consider friends made their way over to us before we could sit down.

'You were brilliant.' Theo beamed, pulling me in for a one armed hug; I hesitated for a moment, surprised, before I returned the hug.

'Even though I almost fell to my death?' I joked when we parted, sharing an amused grin with Draco.

'Yeah, that wasn't cool, Lil—don't do that again,' Blaise said, holding a hand to his heart jokingly but I could see the genuine worry in his eyes.

'Lil?' I asked, my head tilting to the side in question.

'Your middle name is Lily, right?' Blaise asked and continued when I nodded, 'well that's my nickname for you. You're officially one of us now.'

He ruffled my hair, making me laugh.

'Alright Zabini. But you're the only one who can call me that,' I narrowed my eyes in a mock threatening manner.

'Fine by me,' he held his hands up with a grin before turning to go to the Slytherin table with Theo.

'I'm gonna go and sit down, Hayles,' Hermione murmured, squeezing my hand in farewell.

'Your flying was great,' Pansy commented, gracing me with a small smile that no one else in the hall could see, as she had her back to the hall.

'Right up until you fell anyway.' Draco said dryly, making me laugh.

'Yeah, yeah laugh it up,' I rolled my eyes, and lightly shoved his shoulder, 'someone messed with my broom, as well as Harry's.'

Pansy and Draco frowned; clearly they had reached the same conclusion.

'Yeah we noticed that Granger set Snape's cloak on fire,' Draco commented, his brow raised in question.

'They think it was Snape, but I have other suspicions.' I shrugged, glancing over to Quirrell.

'Yeah I was thinking the same thing.' Draco said, surprising me. I looked over to him and noticed he had followed my gaze.

'Quirrell is definitely suspicious.' Pansy agreed.

'That and Snape loves you, I doubt he would bewitch your broom. Maybe Potter's broom but not yours.' Draco smirked when I rolled my eyes.

'Well we can't do anything without proof,' I shrugged, about to make my way to the Gryffindor table when I found myself in Draco's arms.

I blinked in surprise for a moment before I hugged him back, feeling the bond of our friendship strengthen. When we pulled apart I patted his arm, smiling at Pansy when she squeezed my hand before leaving with Draco to head to their house table.

I ignored the stares from everyone else and sat down next to my twin with a heavy sigh. So much had happened over the last twenty-four hours; I had been attacked by a troll, had my broom bewitched and almost fallen to my death. I was starting to think that whatever was happening was something that needed to be stopped. And soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The next week passed by rather quickly as lessons started to become even more stressful. Snape had us making a fire-breathing potion that had to be made over the course of five days and now it was done he had us writing an essay on it, which was due for Monday. Charms was actually fine; Flitwick had us learning Alohomora, which Hermione and I already knew, so we had just started on the essay early and now it was thankfully done. Defense against the dark arts was awful, especially after the Quidditch game; I was still positive that it was Quirrell who had been messing with our brooms. The others were hard to convince. Draco and Pansy were on my side, so it wasn't like I had no one who agreed with me, but after the match I hadn't noticed either of them doing anything suspicious. Although, Snape had been limping—Harry was convinced that meant something but he didn't know what.

It was the first Friday of November, and I was in the library doing my potions essay and helping Draco, Blaise and Dean with theirs. Since that mock Quidditch game we had during flying classes, Dean and a few others had started mingling with a few Slytherin's, though they still preferred those from their own house. It wasn't perfect, but we were getting there. Baby steps.

'I can't believe he's only given us three days to do an essay on a potion that took five days to make,' Blaise complained, not for the first time.

'It's Snape, torturing students brings him joy,' Dean muttered, glancing back and forth between his books and what he had written.

I snorted, but otherwise continued with my essay; I was almost finished.

'Ugh I'm not doing anymore,' Blaise declared, slamming his books shut and leaving his parchment to dry.

'You've said that three times in the past half hour.' I rolled my eyes with a smile.

'Well this time I mean it.' Blaise crossed his arms defiantly.

'Sure you do.' Draco snorted.

'You know you want it mostly done tonight so you don't have as much work for the weekend.' I gently reminded him, looking over to the hologram clock, 'you have forty five minutes until dinner.'

'Fine,' he huffed, opening his pages again, 'are you almost done with yours?'

'Just doing the conclusion now,' I muttered, dipping my quill into my inkpot to start the paragraph, but when I noticed it had gone silent, I looked up in confusion.

'You're on the conclusion already?' Dean sounded astonished.

'Yes.' I frowned with a shrug.

'This is Hayley Potter we're talking about,' Blaise reminded the Gryffindor after sharing an amused look with Draco.

I supposed Dean's surprise made sense; he had never studied or done homework with me before so he didn't know how fast I could work. While Blaise and Draco were more often than not my two companions in the library and were used to my habits and knew when it was safe to ask me for help. They had learned that the hard way; I had been in a groove with a potions essay and Blaise had interrupted me, earning himself a book to the head, or it would have been if he hadn't ducked out of the way.

Deciding not to respond to Blaise's teasing, I carried on with my essay and fifteen minutes later I was finished. I packed my books back into my bag with my parchment, once it had dried, and decided to finish reading ahead in potions. I had already covered the rest of the potions for this semester and it would be handy to have a head start on what we would be doing after Christmas.

'Finsished?' Draco asked from next to me; we were both sat on a green leather couch, while Dean and Blaise had an armchair each of the same colour, there was a dark oak wooded table in the middle of us all.

'Yeah, you?' I asked, jutting my chin at his parchment.

'I've written as much as I can think of, but I don't have enough to go onto the conclusion yet.' He muttered quietly, not wanting Dean to overhear him I assumed.

'Want me to take a look?' I asked, matching his volume. Despite the progress we had made between houses, the Slytherin's still struggled to show anything that could amount to weakness.

Draco nodded and discretely handed me his parchment, reading his own potions book while he waited for me to finish. The essay in itself was brilliantly articulated and I found it really interesting. When I was finished I gave him a bright smile as I handed it back, shooting a glance over to Dean and Blaise before offering him advice.

'It's brilliant; I think you could write a little more on the uses. You have that it allows the user to breathe fire, but it can also be used to treat flu and heal scars because it contains salamander blood.' I told him quietly.

He nodded, showing no visible signs to my feedback, but I swore I saw appreciation in his eyes for just a moment before it disappeared to be replaced with his impenetrable mask. I continued reading my potions book, becoming quite interested in the wide eye potion, when I was again pulled from my reading.

'Damn it!' Dean muttered, his hands tangling in his hair as he stared at his parchment in horror.

I leaned forward, my brow furrowed in confusion; I didn't see anything obviously wrong with it so I looked to Dean for an explanation.

'I've written about Alohamora in my potions essay!' he said, looking like he was seconds away from pulling out his hair.

'That's unfortunate.' Blaise said, his brow furrowing in sympathy.

'Rather you than me,' Draco commented before returning to his own essay.

I rolled my eyes at all of them and pulled my wand out of my skirt pocket and took Dean's parchment from in front of him so I could see what I was doing.

'Is it just this paragraph? All of it?' I clarified, cocking my brow in Dean's direction.

'Yes, why what are you gonna do?' he seemed a little unsure, especially when I didn't answer him, but I needed to concentrate.

I held my wand to the incorrect paragraph and muttered the spell, 'aufero quid ego iustus scriptum.'

The four of us watched as the ink disappeared as if the last paragraph had never been written.

'That was amazing!' Dean exclaimed happily, taking the parchment from me and examining it with a grin on his face.

'You never cease to amaze me, Lily,' Blaise shook his head fondly.

'I'm just glad it worked,' I muttered, too low for Blaise and Dean to hear, but Draco heard me.

'You're a natural, princess,' Draco said, smirking when I cocked my brow at the nickname, but otherwise didn't offer further explanation.

'Dinner's starting soon,' Dean said, packing up his things and standing to leave, 'you coming?'

'In a bit.' I said—I didn't quite feel like moving.

'Okay,' he shrugged, slinging his bag over his shoulder and waving goodbye before he left the library.

As soon as he was gone, Draco and Blaise dropped what they were doing and turned to me; it was so in sync that I wanted to laugh, but something in their expressions stopped me.

'What's up?' I asked cautiously.

'We know why Snape's been limping.' Draco said, sharing a look with Blaise before continuing, 'we heard him talking to Filtch, something about how was he supposed to watch all three heads at once.'

'Three heads?' I frowned and then I realized, 'he was in the third floor corridor on the night of Halloween.'

'It seems that way, yeah,' Blaise ran his hand through his hair and slumped back into his chair.

'But he was in the bathroom when we were attacked by the troll,' I shook my head in denial, I didn't want to believe that Snape was guilty, 'and so was Quirrell.'

'We're not saying it's him,' Blaise assured me.

'We're just saying that he definitely went to the third floor that night, whether he was trying to get past the dog himself, or whether he was trying to cut someone else off.' Draco said, glancing around to make sure there was no one within hearing distance.

'Harry and I went to see Hagrid after the feast last Saturday and he let the name Nicolas Flamel drop by accident. We've been searching ever since, trying to find out who he is.' I told them—Harry, Hermione and Ron might not have liked it but I trusted them.

'You find out who he is, you find out what the dog is guarding,' Draco nodded in understanding.

'We can help you look if you like?' Blaise offered.

'That would be a huge help. With how many books there are to search, we'll need all the help we can get.' I sighed, packing my belongings completely away; dinner would be starting in a few minutes.

Draco and Blaise followed my lead and we all headed to the great hall together.

'Are you going home for Christmas?' I asked the boys, standing between them so I could link an arm through theirs.

'Yes,' they both answered, and neither sounded happy about it.

'It's expected of us because we're from pure blood families,' Blaise elaborated when he noticed my confusion.

'It would be an outrage if we stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas.' Draco rolled his eyes, 'though the only time we spend together as a family is for an hour during Christmas day. We have dinner, exchange gifts and then that's it.'

'Mine wouldn't be so bad, but father has already owled me to inform me that his new wife will be joining us for Christmas,' it was clear from Blaise's tone that this wasn't good information.

'I wish you could stay. From the looks of it Harry and I are going to be the only ones here.' I told them, the loss of our parents washed over me for a moment before I forced myself to focus on the positive, 'but I'll bet Christmas here will be a million times better than the Dursley's.'

'How are you related to them?' Blaise asked, squeezing my arm a little tighter when he heard the forced cheeriness in my tone.

'My Aunt Petunia was my mother's sister. Apparently she thought my mum was a freak because she was a witch, she detested her and anything magical.' I sighed, wishing for the millionth time that my mum and dad were still alive.

'I'll take it that doesn't mix well?' Draco guessed, glancing over to me, his brow furrowed with worry.

I took a deep breath as I tried to gain my composure. I trusted both of the boys I was with, but opening up about my home life was hard when Harry and I never talked about it.

'No, it didn't,' I admitted quietly, 'when I was about eight, I had a dream about a flying motorcycle and Uncle Vernon overheard me when I was telling Harry about how magical it was. I didn't understand why at the time, but he was _so_ angry. He slapped me across the mouth hard enough to split my lip and starved the both of us for a week.'

'Jesus Christ,' Blaise muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

When Draco didn't say anything I looked over to him, and for a moment his mask dropped and allowed me to see the understanding shimmering in his blue orbs.

'I once walked in on my father abusing one of our house elves, Dobby. I told him to stop and he beat me instead to teach me a lesson.' Draco admitted, his gaze shifting to the floor.

I unlinked my arm from the blondes so that I could entwine our hands instead, offering him a comforting squeeze. It didn't seem right to comment on it, so I returned the sentiment he had offered me and let him know that I understood what he was going through. It was something we had in common, as dark as it may be, and it only made my friendship with the blonde and Italian stronger.

From then on, December approached even quicker than I anticipated. I assumed it had something to do with how busy everyone was; I set on finalizing all of my winter essays and when they were finished I started reading ahead for next semester. As well as that, Draco, Hermione, Blaise, Harry, Ron and I had all been searching every book we could get our hands on for Nicolas Flammel. So far, nothing had come up. It was the Wednesday of the final week of term when Hermione encouraged us to keep searching; well her request was mainly aimed at Ron and Harry seeing as she knew I wanted to solve this puzzle just as much as she did.

'I can't believe all the teachers have set us homework for Christmas!' Blaise complained for the fifth time.

We were in potions and had to pair up with the table behind us to complete this one, which meant Blaise and Pansy were working with us. Or rather, sitting there and talking happily after Draco and I practically begged them not to touch anything. We both knew how little attention they paid, and with how complicated the potion was, we couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

'It's not too bad. If you set your mind to it, I'm sure you could get everything finished before you leave for home,' I encouraged him while I measured out the phoenix tears.

'I go home on Sunday!' he exclaimed, rolling his eyes when I just shot him an amused look.

'You've not finished yours? They gave them to us weeks ago!' Draco told him, handing me the lavender stems to add next.

'Well, I've had better things to do.' Blaise insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.

I hid my laugh with a cough that didn't fool the sly Slytherin's.

'You're not seriously going to tell us you're finished?' Pansy butted in, her brow furrowed in suspicion.

Draco didn't say anything, merely shrugging and turning the potion clockwise for the allotted time.

'What about you Hayley?' Pansy asked when the Slytherin Prince didn't respond.

'I've finished mine,' I shrugged, trying to make light of it.

'Yeah a week after they set the assignments,' Draco muttered, but everyone at the table heard it.

'Seriously!' Pansy groaned, but she didn't sound surprised.

'She's the reason mine are done, she kept dragging me to the library,' Draco added, smirking when I elbowed him in the ribs.

'Well next time bring us all,' Blaise said with a pout.

I rolled my eyes fondly before adding the final ingredient: mistletoe. This time I stirred it for the allotted time and when I was finished I held my breath until the potion released a small puff of purple smoke, indicating that it had worked. I turned to Draco for a high five, which he gifted me with after he made sure no one was looking.

'I'll take it that it's finished?' Pansy said, amused.

'Yep. One Deflating Draught at your service,' I smiled, clearing the supplies on the table away with a flick of my wand.

'Good job,' Blaise said, actually sounding impressed.

I smiled in response to Blaise's praise but otherwise said nothing. Though my happiness soon faded when my eyes caught sight of the station behind the two Slytherin's.

'I'll be right back.' I muttered, walking over to the accident prone Gryffindor.

'Miss Potter, where are you going?' Snape asked from across the classroom.

'Just stretching my legs professor,' I yelled back without actually looking at him.

'Neville,' I murmured, after offering the other people at the table a smile in greeting, 'why do you have your wand out?'

Our wands weren't needed for the potion at any point.

'Just to cast the spell to activate the draught.' Neville said, his eyes flickering over to the two Slytherin's that had joined with him and Seamus for the exercise.

'There's no spell required for this potion, Neville.' I assured him, when he put his wand away I smiled, 'if they tell you to do something again, look what it specifically says in the book first.'

Neville nodded, 'thanks Hayley.'

'No problem.' I squeezed his hand before walking back to my station.

'What happened?' Draco asked.

'The ones they're paired with tried to convince Neville that he needed to cast a spell to complete the potion.' I said, sinking down into my stool now that the potion was complete.

'Can't say I'm surprised, Daphne and Crabbe are pieces of work,' Pansy rolled her eyes, clearly not liking those she had just named.

'Anyway, are you all leaving on Sunday?' I wondered.

'No, I'm leaving Friday and Drake is leaving Monday.' Pansy said, filing her fingernails with her transfigured wand.

'Do you want your Christmas presents before you go or do you want me to send them to your houses?' I asked, running my hand through my hair in an attempt to get it out of my face.

I froze when I felt everyone staring at me.

'What?' I muttered, bringing my hand to my face, 'do I have something on my face?'

'No,' Pansy assured me, but they were all still looking at me in wonder.

'Okay, you need to stop staring at me like that,' I said, moving to cover my face with my hands, but Draco caught my arm to stop me.

'You got us Christmas presents?' Draco clarified, his brow quirking slightly indicating that he was surprised.

'Yes…' I frowned in confusion—I had gotten everyone presents and it hadn't been an easy task.

I had to send for my galleons from mine and Harry's vault by owl and seeing as first year students were not permitted to go to Hogsmede, I had come up with a list and asked Hagrid to go for me. Of course, I had asked professor Dumbledore to purchase Hagrid's present for me—I couldn't have him buying his own gift.

'How?' Blaise asked.

'I have my ways.' I shrugged casually.

Draco looked like he was about to ask me something else, but quickly fell silent when Snape called the class to order at the front of the room and began speaking.

'Leave your cauldrons as they are, you will be graded depending on whatever concoction awaits. Whether you failed or not.' Snape said, his eyes sweeping over the crowd coolly, 'you are dismissed.'

I started gathering up my things and when I was finished I waited for the Slytherin's at the table to do the same. Once we were all ready, I linked my arm through Draco's and started walking towards the door with Blaise and Pansy following behind us.

'So you guys never answered my question? When is best for you?' I cocked my brow to Draco and to the two Slytherin's over my shoulder.

'Pansy leaves on Friday, so how about today? We have a three hour gap now until dinner—we can do it in the library.' Draco suggested, and when Pansy and Blaise agreed I smiled.

'Great. I'll meet you there in half an hour.' I said, backing away from them and in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, 'I'm so excited!'

The three snakes shook their heads fondly, each allowing a small smile to break through their façade, which made my own smile grow before I turned and basically sprinted away.

It didn't take me long to gather their presents, after I'd emptied my school bag on the bed I had more than enough room to put them in. I was just hoping that they liked them. This was the first Christmas that I can ever remember looking forward to—I had the money to buy those I cared about presents and Harry and I didn't have to go back to the Dursley's. I myself wasn't expecting to get anything in return—I was pretty sure Harry hadn't even thought about getting presents just because we never had before, but that was fine with me. Being able to spend it with my brother and friends and not being forced to make a Christmas dinner that I wouldn't be able to eat or having to spend the rest of the day in our cupboard, listening to Dudley complain or express excitement over his presents was more than good enough for me. When I reached the library, I was a little out of breath having walked as fast as I could with all of the presents in my bag.

'Took you long enough,' Blaise teased, looking curiously at my bag.

I rolled my eyes with a smile and gently placed my bag on my lap as I sat down on the couch next to Draco.

'Who wants to go first?' I asked cheerily, not at all surprised when Blaise immediately volunteered.

I opened the bag and started ruffling through it and when I found the Italian's present I handed it to him with a nervous smile. Blaise opened it, excitement clear on his face as he tore away the blue and silver wrapping paper. Blaise had been one of the hardest people to get for, and after days of fretting over what he would and wouldn't like, I decided to play it safe. I had gotten him tickets to see his favourite Quidditch team—Falmouth Falcons—in the final. From the look on his face he liked it, and I let out a silent sigh of relief.

'Thanks Hayley! These are over the summer, Drake—we'll have to go together!' Blaise said excitedly, almost dropping the tickets in his excitement.

'Definitely. Falmouth Falcons are definitely going to win this year.' Draco commented, sharing a grin with Blaise.

'Can I go next?' Pansy asked, I was amused to see that she was basically vibrating with excitement; I wasn't used to seeing her display so much emotion. It meant a lot that all of them were comfortable enough around me to lower their defenses.

'Of course.' I grinned, pulling out her present from my bag—it was rather heavy but it was something I was sure she would love.

She ripped the wrapping paper with an excited squeal and when her present was revealed she gasped in amazement. Pansy Parkinson was known as the Slytherin princess, but none of them knew that she was incredibly smart, and near the top of all of her classes. Just like me, she loved to read, which I discovered when she borrowed my copy of _The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe_ and devoured it in two days. So I decided to buy her her very own copy, as well as the rest of the collection.

'Hayley, this is perfect thank you so much!' She grinned, reaching over the table to give me a one armed hug.

'You're welcome, I'm glad you like them.' I smiled, returning to my seat.

'I love them!' She corrected me, staring at the books in absolute wonder.

'And we saved the best for last.' I teased, carefully taking Draco's present out of my bag and handing it to him.

I'd had to shrink Draco's present before I had wrapped it, otherwise I never would have been able to fit it in my bag or wrap it. When he tore the paper off he looked confused, and rightfully so as it just looked like a condensed cube.

'I had to shrink it.' I explained, laughing softly.

'How big is it?' Draco asked, curious.

'You're about to find out.' I said dryly, indicating for him to put it on the table before I took out my wand and said the incantation to make it return to it's normal size. Draco, Blaise and Pansy stared at it in amazement.

Draco's present had taken some thinking, I'd originally planned to get him some books on Quidditch, until he mentioned that the library he had at the manor was bigger than the one at Hogwarts, so I figured it would already be stocked with any book I got him. So I had branched out and remembered that he wanted to try out for the Quidditch team next year, which led me to his current gift. It really was amazing—it was a Quidditch simulation for seekers, meaning it mimicked different kinds of games, and you could set how difficult the game played out—it ranged from easy to very hard. It came with it's own snitch, that was released at the beginning and the seeker—in this case Draco—had to catch it to win just like he would in any other Quidditch game. The fun part was you got to chose the team you were on and the one you played against, so he could even play on the same team as his favourite Quidditch team. I figured he could use it to practice when he was at the manor over Christmas and summer. I'd thought about getting Harry one, but ruled it out for two reasons: it was a magical appliance and couldn't be used in the muggle world, and the Dursley's would never let Harry play with it.

When the silence started to stretch over the room, I started to become more and more anxious—did he already have it? Did he hate it? But in reality, everyone was only silent for about three seconds before the chatter started.

'Whoa—Draco you're going to get so good using this!' Blaise said excitedly.

'It's amazing!' Pansy commented.

I couldn't see either of them though; they were sat opposite us and with the gift stretched to full size, they were blocked from view.

'Hayley…' Draco whispered, his voice barely loud enough for me to hear over our friends' chatter.

'Do you hate it? Because if you do you can return it and get something else.' I assured him, biting my lip to stop myself from rambling.

'Hate it?' Draco looked at me like I was insane, 'it's amazing! It's without a doubt the best gift I've ever received.'

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the sincerity in his usually impenetrable gaze. He really meant it. He turned and gave me a bone-crushing hug that made me grin—I loved making my friends happy.

 **Hey guys! I hope you liked this update, I'm having so much fun writing the Christmas chapter at the moment, and you have that to come next :) Let me know what you think of the story so far!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The rest of the week flew by, and before I knew it, Christmas Eve and the day Draco was leaving had already arrived. He was due to leave for the train station after breakfast, and I was sat with him at the Slytherin table so that he wasn't alone—Harry had Ron and the twins. Hermione had left on Friday, just like Pansy and Blaise had left yesterday as planned. It was weird seeing Hogwarts so empty.

'I can't believe how quiet it is without everyone here.' I said, stirring the porridge in my bowl.

'It's weird.' Draco agreed, his eyes flickering around the room and observing the handful of students that were still here.

'You're going to write over Christmas aren't you?' I asked him, not for the first time.

I had managed to make Blaise, Pansy and Hermione promise they would and I was determined to make Draco promise as well.

'Alright Hayley, you win I'll write. It's probably for the best—we wouldn't want you going _completely_ barmy because you have to suffer without my presence for so long.' Draco smirked, his eyes dancing with mirth.

'We both know it's _you_ who's going to miss me the most, Draco—I'm the light of your life,' I said, my tone overdramatic as I held my hand to my heart.

He chuckled quietly and shook his head somewhat fondly.

'Are you excited for tomorrow? What's Christmas like at home for you?' I asked him, keeping my voice light.

I knew he hadn't sounded particularly excited when I asked him and Blaise about the holiday a while ago, but he didn't mention why. And with the newfound information that his family was just as abusive as mine, I wanted reassurance that he was going to be okay.

'It's mostly boring. We'll have dinner together, exchange gifts and then mother and father will attend whatever charity ball they're sponsoring. They used to make me go but I hated being surrounded by strangers on what is supposed to be a family holiday. For the past few years they've let me stay at home with the elves.' He shrugged, his body language suggested he didn't care but I noticed that he avoided my gaze.

'That sucks. I wish you could stay here.' I said softly, reaching out to squeeze his hand.

'Me too,' he said almost too softly for me to hear, before he squeezed my hand back.

'If you get bored, you'll just have to write to me. Or try out that seeker simulation,' I smiled at him, steering the subject topic to something lighter.

'I imagine I'm going to get a lot of use out of that.' He smiled so genuinely I felt my stomach flutter, but I dismissed it.

We spent the rest of the breakfast talking about random things. The prank the Weasley twins had played on Professor Quirrell, the way the snow that had covered Hogwarts made the grounds feel Christmassy, even if I had nearly fallen over multiple times. Before we knew it, breakfast was drawing to a close and it was time for Draco to leave. I walked with him outside of the great hall, and to the double doors where he had to exit himself and meet the teacher who would be accompanying him to the train station.

'I'm going to miss you,' I admitted shyly—I had told Pansy, Blaise and Hermione the same thing but somehow saying those words to _him_ made me feel bashful.

'I'm going to miss you too, Princess.' He said, offering me a rare insight to his expression as the crinkle in his brow revealed his sadness and his soft smile hinted to his fondness.

Without thinking I pulled him into a hug that he returned with equal enthusiasm, and I was sure that his ribs were aching as much as mine from the force of our embrace.

'See you soon,' Draco said, giving my waist one last squeeze before letting me go.

'See you.' I mumbled, wrapping my arms tightly around myself as I watched him leave, ignoring the shiver of dread that travelled down my spine.

Once the castle doors had firmly closed behind him, I decided I didn't want to return to the hall to my brother, Ron, Fred and George. I was in no mood to be surrounded by company, especially that which would be less than sympathetic to how much I missed my friends. They would understand Hermione of course, but my twin and the red head still had trouble grasping my closeness with the Slytherin's. With a sigh, I realized where my I was subconsciously heading—towards the library. It had been a ritual since I had started Hogwarts to spend any spare moment surrounded by books, mainly due to my thirst to soak up every drip of knowledge I could. For now, however it was due to our desire to find out who Nicolas Flamel was. Draco and Blaise hadn't had any luck in their search either, but both had promised to keep looking over the holidays—Draco mentioned that the Manor's library was three times the size of Hogwarts and he would have books that the school wouldn't, ones that might crack the mystery.

Harry kept mentioning that he had read his name somewhere, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where. I had tried to think of the books he had read that I hadn't, because I'd never heard the name before, but I came up empty.

'Hello Madam Pince,' I greeted her with a genuine smile, 'are you excited for Christmas?'

'Oh yes, Christmas at Hogwarts is simply the best, dear you just wait and see,' she grinned, the sight suggesting that it wasn't something she did often, 'the feast is wonderful, and as there isn't usually many left for the holiday, we all sit around one giant circular table.'

'I look forward to it, I can already tell this is going to be a great year.' I told her, making my way over to the corner of the library I hadn't searched through yet.

'Right, dear, you can have a search through of course but I simply will not allow you to check out any books for school work until January first.' At my shocked look she continued, a determined expression on her face, 'you haven't stopped since you got here and I insist you enjoy the holiday and _relax_. You put far too much pressure on yourself for an eleven year old.'

Despite her declaration, I couldn't help but smile—having adults show concern over me wasn't something I was used to, but I had to admit, it was _nice._

'Yes, ma'am' I said, grinning before moving to search through the books.

I exited the library a few hours later empty handed. I hadn't found anything and decided to head back to the common room, feeling dejected. But I soon perked up when I remembered I had Christmas presents to deliver. Harry, Ron and the twins were noticeably absent from the crimson room when I entered, and I darted to my room and opened my trunk, removing the sock I had filled with shrunken presents and emptied them onto the bed. I had gotten them for quite a few people, and some needed to be sent off with Aphrodite so that they could be opened tomorrow. But the majority of them could be delivered by me.

I murmured the incantation that reverted the presents to normal size and started to sort them into two piles—ones for Aphrodite to deliver and ones I could hand out. Once I was finished I shrunk those for the owlry into a blue sock and those for me into a red sock, before stuffing them into my robes and going on my merry way, humming Christmas carols under my breath. I made the trip to the icy tower first, wanting Aphrodite to be able to finish the trip as soon as possible, and thankfully she only had two deliveries to make—to Mr and Mrs Weasley and then Hermione. Ron had mentioned that he had told his mother that we wouldn't be expecting any gifts for Christmas, and he warned us that she would probably knit us a jumper, so I had bought Mr Weasley a book called _Computers. What are they, what can they do and how do you use one? For Dummies._ Ron had mentioned he was fascinated with muggles, so I figured he would love it. As for Mrs Weasley I had bought her a professional baker appliance kit after Fred and George told me about how much she loved to bake. I was hoping they liked them—I had signed them both from Harry and I.

Hermione's gifts hadn't required much thought, seeing as in between studying and sharing a dormitory, we talked quite a lot. She had mentioned her love for Jane Austen and her desire to read some more of her works—I had gotten her the complete collection of the author and some sugar quills from Honeydukes. They had sold them on the train here and she told me that after she had tried them she had never tasted anything more delicious before in her life. I figured that meant she wouldn't mind some to open on Christmas morning.

It didn't take me long to shrink them down, sliding them into opposite pouches depending on who they were going to. Aphrodite wasn't happy, and it took the promise of how ever much of my Christmas dinner she wanted before she flew away with a displeased hoot.

From there, I headed to the dungeons, figuring I could work my way up. I was grateful it was nearing lunchtime as it meant that teachers would be in the great hall, or the teachers lounge rather than their classrooms. I breathed a sigh of relief when I entered the potions room and discovered it empty. I wasted no time in reverting Professor Snape's gift to its normal size and placing it on his desk before leaving. I had struggled with his gift, as even though he was one of my favorite teachers, he was a closed book. After much thought I had decided on some new wizarding robes—I thought it was something practical he could get use out of—and the recently released book on dark arts, after I remembered Percy mentioning his desire to have Quirrell's job.

With a skip I delivered all of my other gifts: McGonagall got the complete works of Jane Austen, too—I had a feeling she would enjoy them. Madam Pince had tickets to an high ended art exhibit in muggle London—I had gotten two, one for her and her husband. As I spent so much time in the library, I had heard her talking to staff about how much she wanted to see a muggle art show and how upset she was that her husband wasn't picking up on her hints. I figured it would be something she could enjoy over the Christmas break. Madam Hooch had a new silver whistle engraved with the initials _MH_ on one side and a quaffle, bludger and snitch on the other. I hadn't really spent much time with Dumbledore, so I got him several pairs of fluffy socks that were different colours and the biggest box of Bertie Botts every flavor beans I could find—everyone liked socks and sweets, right? Hagrid got a brand new coat that was made of the finest dragon hide leather money could buy—it was specifically built to withstand any and all weather conditions and it had more pockets than Hagrid would ever need. I had even asked Dumbledore to have _Keeper of Keys and Grounds_ printed on the back over the shoulder blades with the Hogwarts logo in the centre. I had also signed that gift from Harry and I—I wanted him to know how grateful we were to him for his kindness and how much we appreciated his friendship. I just hoped he liked it.

After they were all delivered, I left the others in my pockets—they could be delivered that night, as all of the people left would be in my common room. With that decided, I headed to lunch, a spring in my step.

'Well if it isn't my favourite brother,' I smiled, taking my seat next to Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless, 'hey, Ley. Where have you been?'

I wrinkled my nose when I noticed his clothes were dripping wet and I pulled my want out to preform a drying charm while I answered him, 'I went to the library to look up you know who, but I didn't find anything. Then I went to deliver presents.'

'Thank you.' He grinned gratefully when he was completely dry, but his gratitude fell from his face as he registered my words and transformed into shock, 'presents?'

'Yeah, I got stuff for a few teachers, Hermione and Mr and Mrs Weasley,' I shrugged, trying to make light of it as I piled some food onto my plate.

I had a turkey sandwich with prawn cocktail crisps and cheesy nibbles. Yum.

'What?' Ron asked with his mouth still full, successfully spitting food all over Harry and I.

'Ron!' I muttered, unimpressed.

'Sorry,' he said after he swallowed, 'you got my mum and dad presents?'

'Well…yeah. When you mentioned they might send us something I didn't want them to wake up empty handed. I signed them from the both of us, don't worry.' I winked at my twin who offered me a sheepish smile.

'You haven't got me anything have you?' Harry's blue eyes shone with worry, and I could understand why.

'Of course I have, Harry.' I rolled my eyes in amusement.

My twin paled and I playfully nudged him with my shoulder before he could let his guilt consume him.

'I wasn't expecting you to get me anything, Jay. We're not used to giving or receiving presents at Christmas so it's totally understandable that you didn't think to get any,' I assured him, squeezing his hand comfortingly.

'You did.' He mumbled, but I could tell my words had made him feel better.

'Only because I was reading _The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe_ a few weeks ago, otherwise I would have forgotten too.' I told him honestly, smiling when he shook his head fondly.

'You're never right,' Ron shook his head, his mouth once again full of food, 'how you and Hermione enjoy reading so much I will never understand.'

'How you enjoy talking with your mouth so full, _I'll_ never understand,' I retorted, laughing with my twin at his affronted expression.

The rest of the day progressed quickly and before I knew it, I was falling asleep with my twin—my dorm room was completely empty and after I'd mentioned how much I didn't like sleeping in there alone, Harry said I could share his bed. I was more than a little grateful, as there was something haunting about my dormitory with just the sounds of my own breath and the wind whistling through the room for company. Once I was settled, I fell asleep rather quickly, excited to see my brother and Ron open their presents.

'Wake up you two!' a voice yelling in my ear made me groan in discomfort, I tried to block it out by pulling the duvet over my head but it didn't work, 'IT'S CHRISTMAS!'

The words got through to me, and I was out from under the duvet at shaking my twins shoulder in a second. Harry was taking a while to come around, and so I took drastic measures by pulling the duvet off him, exposing him to the cold December air.

'Hayley!' He groaned, rubbing his eyes.

'Come on, Jay, you've got presents to open,' I squealed excitedly.

This made him pause for a moment before he pulled on his glasses and sat up to look at the pile of presents on the end of his bed. The look on his face was one of complete amazement and awe, and I couldn't blame him—no one had ever thought of us for Christmas. But this year they had—he had _presents_ —from the looks of it he had quite a few, and I was excited to see him open them all.

'Merry Christmas, Ron,' I said to the red head to the left of me who was digging into a box of chocolate frogs someone had gifted him.

'Merry Christmas, Hayley,' he smiled.

'Here open this one next,' I said, picking up the sapphire package and handing it to him. He looked confused until he read the tag before opening it, a little cautious when he saw how eager I was.

'Woah, Hayley this is amazing!' He said in complete awe, making me grin.

I had gotten him this season's new complete kit for his favourite Quidditch team—Chudley Cannons.

'I'm glad you like it,' I smiled, about to turn back to Harry to watch him open his presents but I blinked in surprise when Ron suddenly hugged me. I hesitated for only a moment in shock before returning his embrace.

Once he released me he continued to open his presents as if nothing happened. I shook my head fondly and went to climb onto Harry's bed to sit and watch them open their presents when Harry's words stopped me.

'These aren't all mine, Ley,' Harry realized, his eyes lighting up in happiness, 'this pile is for you.'

I hadn't realized it until then, but the gifts sat on top of his trunk were in fact split into two piles. I blinked in amazement and wandered over to them, not knowing where to start and blinking back tears— _I had presents._ After sharing a look with Harry, I knew he felt just as grateful and lucky as I did. But before I dug into my own presents, I picked up the one I had gotten Harry from his pile and handed it to him. He took it from me with an excited smile and tore open the paper. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened when he saw what it was.

'Hayley… this is… _wow,_ ' he said, staring at the box as if it was about to disappear.

I had gotten him a PSP handheld in black with four games— _The Simpsons, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Marvel the Ultimate Alliance._

'It won't be much use here,' I told him with a sheepish smile, 'but I thought it would be fun for the summer holidays seeing as we wont be able to do magic and I know you don't like to read as much as I do—.'

Harry cut me off with an abrupt hug that knocked the air out of my lungs, he took me by surprise but I was soon hugging him back, glad he seemed to like his present.

'Thank you, Ley.' He whispered, sounding a little emotional.

'You're welcome,' I smiled when he pulled back before we both went back to opening our presents.

The first was from Hagrid and it was a wooden harp about the size of my palm. Mr and Mrs Weasley got Harry and I matching emerald green jumpers with the letter _H_ knitted in black—I put mine on immediately, more than a little cold—they also got us some home made fudge which was delicious. Harry and I were a little amused by the present we received from the Dursley's—it was a note addressed to us both with a fifty pence piece taped on the back.

'That was kind of them,' I said dryly.

'You could say that,' Harry snorted.

'What is that?' Ron asked, staring at the silver currency in fascination, 'is that _money_?'

After Harry and I shared a look, we gave the silver to Ron, who accepted it gratefully.

Hermione sent me a bottle of perfume that smelled faintly of roses—she must have remembered it was my favourite scent—and a box of chocolate frogs. I was also surprised to see presents from Pansy, Draco and Blaise. How they had managed to gather them in such short notice baffled me, but I couldn't help but feel touched that they had.

Pansy sent me a book called _The Tales of Beedle the Bard—_ it was a collection of wizarding fables and I found myself anxious to start reading it there and then, but I managed to resist with great effort. Blaise sent me a pampering kit—it contained bath bombs that continually changed colour and scent while in use, self-massaging oil and face packs that magically calmed the wearer. Attached to the box was a note saying _Lily, you work too hard, take some time to relax. Blaise._

Draco's gift surprised me the most—it was small and wrapped in silver paper and tied with emerald ribbon. I wondered for a moment if he had shrunk it but when I opened it and saw a velvet box I felt my breath catch. It was a platinum bracelet and it had a few charms attached to it—a book, the letter _H_ , the Hogwarts crest and a broomstick that looked startlingly similar to my nimbus 2000. I read the note that fell out, feeling my eyes mist over as I did.

 _Princess,_

 _You put so much thought into my gift, I thought it would only be fair to do the same. Each charm represents something you love, I hope you like it. It's spelled to never fall off and it has an anti- breaking charm._

 _Merry Christmas._

 _Draco._

I carefully took the bracelet from the box and placed the note inside before snapping it shut. I clipped the bracelet on my wrist and jiggled my arm, smiling at the twinkling noise it made. It was the most thoughtful gift I had ever gotten and I loved it. I was about to go to my room to crack open the parchment and write everyone thank you letters when my twin's voice stopped me.

'Ley, this one's addressed to both of us.' Harry said, holding up a crumpled package.

More than a little curious, we tore into it together to reveal a silvery looking cloak. When I touched it I couldn't help but flinch a little—it wasn't what I was expecting. It didn't feel like material, but like water woven into a cloak.

'I've heard about those!' Exclaimed Ron, 'if I'm right then they're really rare, and _really_ valuable.'

'What is it?' I asked, at a loss.

'It's an invisibility cloak,' Ron said excitedly.

Harry frowned in disbelief before pulling it on, we all gasped in amazement when he disappeared from the neck down.

'See!' Ron said, pointing to thin air.

'Who sent it?' I wondered, picking up the card that had fluttered to the floor.

 _Your father left this in my possession before he died._

 _I felt it was time it was returned to you._

 _Use it well._

 _And a very Merry Christmas to the both of you._

Harry read the card over my shoulder and we both shared a look full of hope, shock and disbelief. Before we could say anything, the door burst open and the twins walked in. Harry quickly bunched up the cloak and stuffed it into his trunk discretely and I was glad he did. It didn't feel right to share it with anyone else before we could talk about it.

'Merry Christmas everyone!' The twins chorused; they were wearing matching blue jumpers with 'F' and 'G' knitted in yellow.

'Ooo Harry and Hayley got jumpers too!' Fred said, holding up Harry's jumper—he hadn't put his on yet.

'Looks like she puts in more effort if you're not family,' George joked, nodding at Ron in approval when he noticed he was wearing his jumper, which was maroon.

'Merry Christmas!' I said brightly, taking a seat on Harry's bed as the room started to become more crowded.

'It is indeed firecracker.' Fred smiled, looking over to his twin before they both dived onto the bed with me, knocking me over.

'Bloody hell,' I laughed.

'You two are mental,' Ron shook his head in amusement.

'We are Ronnikins, but be careful,' George started, his tone serious for once as he and Fred slowly climbed off Harry's bed.

'It runs in the family!' And with that, they dove on their brother.

Harry sat next to me and we both watched the interaction in amusement. They wrestled for a few moments while Harry and I spoke.

'I was thinking I could look into helping your handheld work in Hogwarts,' I mused when I noticed him eying the box that contained the gift I had bought him, 'I started thinking about it a few weeks ago, but with essays and Flamel, I haven't really had the time.'

'Don't worry about it, Ley.' Harry smiled, his eyes sparkling although it dulled a moment later, 'I just wish I had thought to get you something.'

'Harry, we're not used to getting presents never mind giving them so stop beating yourself up,' I murmured, my head resting on his shoulder as I cheekily said, 'you can make it up to me next year.'

Harry chuckled lightly, 'I will.'

'Come on you two, we're going to have a snowball fight,' George announced proudly.

I went back to my dorm to get dressed and when I returned, everyone was heading out. Harry and Ron started walking ahead and the twins flanked either side of me wearing matching grins.

'Thank you by the way, firecracker,' Fred said, too quietly to be overheard.

'You got them then?' I smiled.

'We did,' George confirmed, rummaging in his pockets and producing a small vial of clear liquid and shooting a mischievous glance towards their younger brother.

'We were thinking of getting our revenge on Ron over what happened on Halloween.' Fred threw an arm around my shoulders, 'we never forget and we wanted to know if you still wanted to be counted in.'

'Hmm…' I mused, pretending to think it over, 'thanks, but no. He helped save me and Hermione from that troll so I'm good on the whole revenge front.'

'While we are disappointed…' George trailed off.

'We respect your decision.' Fred finished.

'I'm glad to see you're already making use of your presents, anyway,' I said, looking up to them both.

'Of course,' Fred grinned, rubbing my arm to generate some friction when I shivered from the cold corridor.

'Are you sure you're not our sister? Because we're pretty sure we were kindred spirits in another life,' George winked.

'You got us products from Zonko's, _lots_ of products—you know us too well.' Fred exclaimed, earning some weird looks from the professors as we entered the great hall for breakfast.

'Well, I _do_ have red hair. It's certainly a possibility,' I teased, laughing at the gleeful expressions on the twins' faces.

We chatted companionably over breakfast, talking about what we had got for Christmas, how we thought our final essays for the semester had gone and what teams we were going to split up in for the snowball fight. Fred and George spiked Ron's pumpkin juice with the vial they had shown me earlier, and much to everyone's amusement it temporarily turned Ron's hair bright pink. It went quite nicely with the shade of red he turned in embarrassment. At that point, Percy joined us—apparently he had slept in—and I excused myself from the table, offering the prefect my spot on Fred and George's team, much to their chagrin.

As I had been talking with my friends and twin, my thoughts had drifted over to my friends and how they were spending Christmas. Pansy and Blaise insisted their time at home for the holidays wouldn't be too bad, more boring than anything. But I was worried about Draco seeing as his parents tended to leave him to his own devices until dinner and then leave him alone altogether afterwards. So I took I used thanking them for their presents as an excuse to go and write to them all. After a quick stop at my dorm for some parchment, my quill and ink I headed towards the owlry. It would also give me the opportunity to give Hedwig and Aphrodite their presents too.

I had gotten them both harnesses to wear; each had the Hogwarts crest on the front with their names engraved underneath. It was made from dragon hide and spelled to protect the wearer from any and all weather conditions. I thought they might appreciate that seeing as the weather wouldn't be picking up for a few months yet.

When I finally reached the tower, I took a seat and began writing.

 _Hermione,_

 _Merry Christmas! I hope you're having a lovely day with your family and I hope you liked your present! I got the perfume and frogs you sent me and I love them! Thank you so much! I'm literally wearing the perfume as I write and well, I had to hide the frogs in my dorm room as Ron was eyeing them up. Madam Pince has strictly told me I'm not allowed to check out any books until January 1_ _st_ _. She thinks I need to relax, but I don't think she realizes that reading is how I relax. Oh well, I still have the books for next semester I can read, and the new book I got for Christmas. Have you ever heard of The Tales of Beedle the Bard? It's a book of wizarding fables and I'm excited to read it._

 _Write back soon!_

 _Love,_

 _Hayley._

 _Pansy,_

 _Merry Christmas! How's your day going? Mine's going rather well so far, and I'd wager this is the best Christmas I've ever had. Thank you so much for The Tales of Beedle the Bard—I'm so excited to read it! I had to physically stop myself from starting on it as soon as I opened it. How far along are you with the Narnia collection? Let me know how you're liking them so far, I'm excited to have someone to talk about it with! Have a lovely Christmas!_

 _Write back soon!_

 _Love,_

 _H_

 _Blaise,_

 _Merry Christmas! How's the day treating you? It's been good for me so far, but this is the first Christmas I've spent out of a cupboard so it wasn't hard to beat. Thank you for the pamper set; I plan on putting it to use over the holidays! You're not the only one who has told me I need to relax—am I really that high maintenance? – I didn't realize I was working so hard._

 _How's the new stepmother? I remember you saying you weren't looking forward to meeting her, so I hope she isn't as bad as you thought she was going to be._

 _Have a lovely Christmas!_

 _Love,_

 _Lily._

 _Mr and Mrs Weasley,_

 _Merry Christmas! I hope you're having a lovely time spending the holiday in Romania. I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the jumpers and the fudge you sent Harry and me. The jumpers are really warm—I'm wearing mine as I write this—and brilliantly knitted. The fudge is also delicious; I suspect we'll have given ourselves stomachaches with how much we eat before the day is out. Thank you so much for thinking of us, I can't put into words how much we appreciate it._

 _Have a lovely Christmas!_

 _Love,_

 _Harry and Hayley Potter._

 _Prince,_

 _I know, it's the first time I've called you that but I think given your nickname for me it works out rather nicely. Merry Christmas! I hope that your day hasn't been consumed by how much you're missing me, but I understand if it has—I'm a delight! The day's been good for me so far—anything's better than being with the Dursley's—but I will admit not having you here is really strange. I hadn't realized how much time we spent together until you left._

 _The bracelet is amazing and has been wrapped around my wrist as soon as I opened it this morning. I have no idea how you found the time to get me something so beautiful and thoughtful, but I'm grateful you did. Thank you so much, Draco._

 _Madam Pince has banned me from checking out any books before January 1_ _st_ _. She insists I need to relax— you'd think that a librarian would understand that a good book is what helps me do that, but never mind. I still have the books for next semesters classes to read—I've almost finished with the potions we'll be learning next semester. One of them is called the 'confusing concoction.' It seems really complicated but I think we will be able to handle the challenge._

 _Nothing new on Nicolas Flamel, but that probably doesn't surprise you seeing as you left twenty-four hours ago._

 _I hope you have a nice Christmas!_

 _Write soon!_

 _Love,_

 _Princess._

As soon as the letters were finished I placed them into envelopes and wrote the correct names on the front. Then I pulled out the harnesses for Hedwig and Aphrodite and started to look around for them. They were sat together, near the top of the tower and after a quick whistle they both, thankfully, floated down. The harnesses were easy to fit and once they were ready I tied the letters for Hermione and the Weasley's to Hedwig's leg after explaining whom they were for. Once she was gone I started to tie the remaining three to Aphrodite's leg.

'These are for Pansy, Blaise and Draco. Make sure they are the only ones to take them. If you can't find them then just bring the letter home okay?' I said gently, smiling when she hooted an affirmative.

'Thank you, Aphrodite,' I stroked her feathers, 'and Merry Christmas girl.'

I watched her fly away until she was a small black dot in the sky. Then I left the tower to go and find where everyone else had gotten. I found the boys in the middle of an epic snowball fight and laughed when Harry and Ron eagerly claimed me for their team, seeing as they were close to having to surrender. About an hour later, thanks to my chaser aim, I managed to bring us in the lead after landing countless snowballs in Percy's face. It wasn't on purpose—for some reason he just made himself an easy target. Our victory had us singing to the great hall, where Christmas dinner was being served, and earning amused and irritated glances from various teachers. I thanked Hagrid for the harp and Harry thanked him for his flute. Hagrid was beaming when he thanked us for his jacket, and this led to some other teachers thanking me for their gifts. I told them they were welcome whilst trying to ignore my brother's surprise stare and keeping a blush at bay.

Afterwards we chatted about the fight and watched as the teachers slowly started to get drunker and drunker. Snape had a smile playing on his lips, Hagrid started to gradually talk louder and McGonagall's nose was getting redder and redder with each glass of wine she had. The rest of the teachers were more subdued, though everyone was in high spirits and it was infectious.

The feast was incredible—too many turkeys to count, mash potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, gravy, roast potatoes, vegetables and mint sauce. Desert consisted of a variety—sponge cake, Christmas pudding, ice cream and chocolate. By the time we were finished I was so full I was certain I could relate to a bear about to go into hibernation. So when George offered me a piggyback to the dorm, I didn't refuse and the gentle swaying soon led to me falling asleep.

I woke up feeling disorientated. I was lying on a bed and it took me a few moments to realize that the bed didn't belong to me. It was Harry's, which made sense due to the spells in place to ensure boys couldn't enter the girls' dormitories. When I glanced outside, I deduced it was nighttime but closer to early evening. I was just about to look for everyone else when I heard a _tap tap tap_ coming from one of the windows. I made my way over and smiled when I saw it was Aphrodite and Hedwig.

'Hey you two, did you have a nice flight?' I murmured, digging out the owl treats Harry kept in his trunk and offering them both a couple.

They both held their legs out, offering me the attached letters, which I took with an excited smile. There were three responses. I decided to open Hermione's first.

 _Hayley,_

 _Merry Christmas to you too! I'm surprised Madam Pince is being so adamant about not checking books out. That's not very helpful given what we're trying to find, but I'm sure you'll find a way. But she is right, you do need to relax; we both do. Mum and Dad have confiscated my schoolwork—they did it on day one of the holidays when I mentioned I had finished my Christmas assignments. Thank you for the collection of Jane Austen novels! I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and I have no doubt I will have steadily made my way through them all before we return to school. It's nice to read something for pure enjoyment, knowing that I'm not going to be tested on it, you know? Don't get me wrong, I love school and learning, but I think Madam Pince was right—it is nice to take a break and relax from time to time. I haven't heard about The Tales of Beedle the Bard, let me know what you think of it and maybe I can borrow it if you've finished by the time we come back for school?_

 _I hope you're having a great break!_

 _Write as often as you can, as nice as it is to be home, I feel very cut off from you all._

 _Love,_

 _Hermione._

I placed the letter to the side, smiling and shaking my head fondly. Hermione and I were just too similar. I loved that. I moved on to the next letter, which was from the Weasley's.

 _Harry and Hayley,_

 _You are most welcome for the presents; we are so glad you like them. We just wanted to say thank you for being a good friend to Ron, Fred and George. All of them speak highly of the both of you._

 _Thank you for the presents, you certainly didn't have to get u anything, but we appreciate the thought more than you know. Arthur is steadily making his way through the book you bought him and I've baked several treats that have been received really well. Perhaps I'll send you all some when I get the chance._

 _Merry Christmas to the both of you,_

 _Mr and Mrs Weasley._

I grinned, happy that the Weasley's had enjoyed their gifts and secretly hoping she did decide to send over some baked goods. They seemed lovely and I couldn't wait to meet them. I picked up my final letter and took a breath before opening it.

 _Princess,_

 _We both know that you're the one who's missing me the most. If you don't believe me then I would implore you consider the fact that you've noticed my absence when we were only separated twenty-four hours ago. Though I will admit… I've noticed your absence, too._

 _But chin up, Princess only one week to go—that's when I'm coming back. Mother and Father have overseas business they need to attend to on the 2_ _nd_ _so I'm coming back to Hogwarts on the 1_ _st_ _. We'll have a few days to catch up before school starts up again._

 _Christmas has been… good. Well, the same as it has been every year. I slept until ten, got my own breakfast and read until three when we sat down for Christmas dinner. We exchanged gifts—I've got a new broom and it's spectacular—and then we parted ways when they left for the charity ball. Since then I've been practicing with the seeker simulation you got for me and, Princess it is fantastic. Father asked me where I got it from and I lied and said it was a gift from Theo._

 _It's not that I'm ashamed of you or our friendship, but I know my father. He originally wanted me to become friends with you and your brother because when you defeated the dark lord, it was believed that you and Harry were dark wizards, even more powerful than the dark lord. It took me one interaction to realize that it wasn't true and so I never told father about our friendship because I was—I am—worried about what he will do. He'll try and meddle and manipulate, to use our friendship to his advantage and I don't want that. You're my best friend, Princess and I don't want to lose that. Though I understand if you're mad hearing this, I hope you forgive me. For what my father wanted me to do and for the fact that I was too much of a coward to tell you this to your face._

 _I'm glad you liked the bracelet, it didn't take me long to pick some charms to represent what you love. I guess I just know you well._

 _I can believe that you've been banned from checking out books—you work too hard, take advantage of this and relax before the new term starts. You deserve it._

 _I've been looking into Flamel, and I haven't found anything either, if I do you'll be the first to know._

 _I'm glad you've had a good Christmas, Princess._

 _Love,_

 _Prince._

 _P.S. I like the nickname._

I took a shaky breath when I finished Draco's letter. It was a lot to take in, and even though I had been angry as soon as I read is confession, I understood his reasoning. If he thought our friendship needed to be hidden from his father then I believed him. Given what I had heard, he was a loyal supporter of Voldemort and his views on blood status were absolute. He believed those who were "purebloods" were superior in all ways and those who were "halfboods" or "muggleborn" were inferior. Draco had told me bits and pieces over the months and it was easy to see where that arrogant and rude boy I'd met in _Madam Malkin's_ had come from. He said what he knew, what he believed to be true at the time. He had never mentioned why his attitude had changed so drastically, and I'd never asked. A part of me was afraid that it hadn't. That we were just ignoring the elephant in the room. What if he did truly believe that those who weren't "purebloods" were inferior because of something they couldn't help?

But deep down, I knew that wasn't the case. He hadn't spoken down to anyone because of their blood status since the train. He hadn't said the word mudblood since the dress shop. I just didn't know _why_. What had happened that seemingly undid the views his parents had been subjecting him to for eleven years? I sighed, and read the letter again. He missed me just like I missed him. He said I was his best friend and I realized that he had become mine too. He was protecting our friendship and me from his father, because he cared. I just needed to know. But was this a conversation I should continue over a letter or should I wait until he came back? I couldn't just not write any kind of response, though. I didn't want to worry him. I didn't want him to think our friendship was over, because it wasn't. I left for my dorm, bringing Aphrodite with me and managing to slip past the others easily—they were all heavily invested in a chess match. After pulling out a couple of rolls of parchment, I sat crossed legged on my bed and started to respond.

 _Prince,_

 _I'll admit I was a little upset when I first read your letter, but after thinking it over, I understand. You've become my best friend as well and if I felt that someone was trying to ruin our friendship or use it for their own gain then I would lie to protect you, to protect us, too. Thank you for telling me, even if it was over a letter and not face to face. I'm going to do the same thing and ask you something I've been too afraid to ask you too. When we first met in that dress shop, you were quick to express how much you hated muggleborns and how much you believed in pureblood superiority. I was just wondering, has that changed? Do you still believe that? If not, then what changed your mind? It's something I need to know, Draco because you know how much I detest rivalries and racism. If you don't want to explain over a letter, that's fine—we can talk when you come back next week._

 _I'm glad you like the simulation system and I look forward to you coming back._

 _Love,_

 _Princess._

 _P.S. I'm glad you like it, because it's staying._

I quickly attached it to Aphrodite's leg and sent her off before I could change my mind. I decided to wait to respond to Hermione's, seeing as I didn't really have anything new to tell her and I didn't know how to respond to the Weasley's letter. So, once I was done I quickly packed my things away and grabbed the book Pansy got for me. I wasn't surprised to find the common room empty—I'd basically slept most of the afternoon and now I was wide awake while everyone else was sleeping. I sat in one of the armchairs by the fire and tucked my feet underneath me but before I could even open the cover a voice stopped me.

 **Gonna leave it there for now ;) I'm sure you all know what's going to happen next, but I think it's best to save that for the next chapter, or this one would have ended up being WAY too long. I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think! See you in the next update :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

'Ley, thank god you're up.' It was Harry's voice, but I couldn't see him anywhere.

'Jay?' I was confused and then it clicked—the invisibility cloak, 'if you're wearing the cloak you know I can't see you, right?'

'Oh yeah,' Harry said, sounding sheepish and then a second later his head was revealed, floating a few feet away from me, 'I thought I'd test it out and check out the restricted section. Do you wanna come with?'

'Sure,' I agreed immediately, for a few reasons. I was curious about the restricted section myself, and the idea of using something that belonged to our dad made my heart squeeze in my chest.

We both fit under the cloak easily, though Harry had one hand sticking out of the front, holding up a lantern we'd grabbed on the way out. If anyone saw us, they would only see a hand bobbing along the corridors. In other words, it would have been a freaky sight. It didn't take us long to reach the library with the halls empty and no teachers around. It was strange being in the library without Madam Pince, but as we approached the restricted section all thoughts left my mind.

'Do you think what we're looking for is in here?' I wondered aloud, looking up at the ceiling high bookcases after Harry removed the cloak.

'I don't know. But it can't hurt to look,' Harry shrugged and grabbed a book at random.

I flinched when it landed on the table with a thud, though the screams that erupted from the book when it was opened was worse. I covered my ears while Harry slammed the book shut and put it back where it came from. The lantern landed with a shatter after my twin knocked it off in his haste to grab the cloak, and when it was wrapped around us we left without looking back. The scream the book had emitted was still echoing off the walls. We were just about to walk out of the library when Filtch walked in, a lantern of his own clenched in his left hand and his lip curled in a frightened sneer.

'Who's there?' He asked, his lip twitching, 'show yourself!'

I elbowed my twin lightly in the ribs and gestured for us to move around him. I took his hand in mine tightly as I guided us around the both terrified and angry teacher. Thankfully, we reached the corridor without an incident and after we'd moved far enough away from the library, we both breathed a sigh of relief.

'That was close,' Harry breathed.

I chuckled quietly, strangely exhilarated. My smile dropped as soon as we heard Filtch's voice though. Harry grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a suit of armor, clearly forgetting we were invisible underneath the cloak. Filtch must have known a short cut because he didn't come from behind us, but from in front of us.

'You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wondering around at night, and somebody's been in the library—the Restricted Section.' Filtch said, clearly out of breath.

'The restricted section?' Snape walked out from the corridor to the left to join Filtch; I heard Harry gasp softly but I just watched the interaction, 'well they can't be far, we'll catch them.'

They turned towards us and started heading in our direction. Harry took my elbow and started walking us backwards—the corridor was narrow and there was a chance they may walk into us. The cloak didn't stop us from being solid. I was watching the teachers and trusting my twin to lead us safely away. My breathing was short and sporadic—I felt like I was about to have a panic attack. I hadn't been in trouble for anything since we had come to Hogwarts and I had no idea what the protocol was for punishment here. I was sure that it wouldn't involve anything that would result in me being beaten—I knew that logically, but for whatever reason my body wasn't listening. Harry steered me through a door that had been left open, but I was struggling to concentrate. We fell against the wall in the room, listening to the footsteps fade away, while also trying to curb my panic attack.

'Bloody hell,' Harry breathed once the corridors had gone completely silent.

I was still having trouble getting my breathing back to normal.

'Harry—I _can't—_ breathe,' I gasped, grabbing his forearm and squeezing.

'Hayley,' he said calmly—he was used to dealing with me in this state, 'it's okay. Take a deep breath. That's it; match your breathing to mine. In through your nose and out through your mouth.'

I followed his instructions, his calm voice helping and a few minutes later I was back to normal. I wiped the sheen of sweat that had appeared from my forehead and hugged my twin, resisting the urge to cry—it had been a while since I had a panic attack and I forgot how much I hated it. Harry held me for as long as I needed and I found myself grateful for my twin for the millionth time. Because of this it took us a few minutes to take in the details of the room we had escaped in to.

It was an abandoned classroom—at least that was what it looked like from the dust covering the desks and chairs that were piled against the walls. Although there was something out of place in the room, and after sharing a look with my twin I knew he had noticed it too. Hesitantly, we both made our way to the large mirror in the centre of the room. It was as large as the ceiling with an ornate gold frame and it was standing on two clawed feet. I was interested in the inscription on the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. My brain was working at a thousand miles a minute, trying to work out what it could mean, it didn't seem to be any kind of language and after a moment of observation I realized it was backwards. It was rather clever, actually, to have something written that could be read in a reflection.

 _I show not your face but your hearts desire._

'Ley!' Harry gasped.

I looked over to him and saw he had moved to stand in front of the mirror, and whatever he saw had caused him to go deathly pale.

'Harry?' I said, cautiously.

He pulled me to stand beside him and I felt my eyes fill with tears at what I saw. It was I, but I was older and standing with three children surrounding me. The oldest was a little boy with startling blonde hair and my eyes, and the other two appeared to be twins, a boy and a girl. The girl had my hair but it was thinner and much more fine and they eyes were a startling grey. The other boy had the same blonde hair as his older brother, but he had my freckles and again my eyes. What was most startling was the man who was standing with the older version of me. He had grey eyes in this light; they often looked blue to me around the school but I had recently noticed they shone grey whenever he felt strong emotion. All I could see in his eyes now was love for the family that surrounded him. His hair was a little longer than I was used to seeing it and a little scruffier but it suited him. He was smiling and it was nice to see laugh lines on his cheeks that suggested he was happy and from the looks of it, so was I.

'Can you see them?' Harry asked excitedly.

'See who?' I said, refusing to glance away from the mirror, it just looked so perfect.

I knew that this mirror didn't show the future, but our hearts truest desire and that stung a little, to know that this could never happen. But I couldn't believe who the man was.

Draco Malfoy.

Is that what I wanted? I wanted to be with him, marry him and have children with him? How could this mirror know something that I didn't even know myself? He was my best friend and I loved him but I couldn't imagine him being my boyfriend. We were eleven for Merlin's sake. I mean sometimes he made my heart flutter and when he left for the holidays I felt like a part of myself had left with him, but that was just a friend caring for a friend… wasn't it?

'What do you see?' I murmured, looking over to my brother for the first time.

'Our family,' he sounded emotional, 'mum, dad, you, our aunts, uncles, grandparents. They're all there, Ley.'

'I don't see them, Jay,' my eyes misted over and I fought a sob.

I had never seen my parents; I couldn't even remember what they looked like and now we had a mirror that could show me they were nowhere to be seen. I saw myself with a family. I knew that this mirror reflected our hearts desire, but I didn't want to think about what that could mean.

'You don't?' Harry frowned, looking from me back to the mirror, 'what do you see?'

'Myself, but older and I have a family.' I smiled a little at the reflection when I looked back to the mirror—the children had tackled Draco and I and we were now lying on the floor underneath them. We started to tickle them and everyone started laughing.

'I don't understand,' Harry said, sounding confused.

'Me neither,' because I didn't, why was my truest desire to have a family and not know the one I had missed?

We stood in front of that mirror until our feet hurt and then we sat, staring into the mirror. Eventually we reached a point where I was starting to doze off with my head against my twins shoulder.

'Ley,' Harry murmured gently causing me to jerk up off his shoulder, 'we should get back to the dormitory.'

I nodded sleepily and followed him blindly, not feeling awake enough to navigate the hallways myself. Before I knew it I was tucked up in Harry's bed and quickly falling asleep.

'I can't believe you didn't wake me,' Ron said, his mouth full of bacon.

I rolled my eyes but smiled, 'we didn't know we were going to end up there, Ron.'

'But still,' Ron insisted.

'You can come tonight, I'm going to go back.' Harry smiled. He had a strange gleam in his eye. It was almost… obsessive.

'I think I'll stay in the dorm,' I said a little sheepishly.

Since I had woken up that morning it had felt… weird whenever I remembered what I had seen in that mirror. It was almost… excitement and happiness but I pushed it away—I wasn't going to marry my best friend. That mirror did not show the future. That's what I kept telling myself, anyway, and going back to see the image all over again wouldn't help my denial.

'Why not?' Harry sounded astounded.

'I just don't want to go, okay,' I shrugged, waving my hand dismissively.

'Fine,' my twin frowned, thankfully dropping it.

I was sitting reading ahead in transfiguration when Harry and Ron came bursting back into the dormitory that night. Harry looked sad and Ron looked pumped on adrenaline.

'What happened?' I asked cautiously.

'Ron didn't see mum and dad either,' he shrugged, walking towards his room, 'and we had to leave before Filtch caught us.'

'Yeah Mrs Norris walked right in, and we didn't know if she could see us through the cloak or not, so we played it safe and left.' Ron said, sounding out of breath.

'That's probably safe.' I agreed, eyeing my brother with worry.

If they had to leave suddenly then that meant he hadn't had much time with the mirror. I was worried he was becoming obsessed, so when he asked if I wanted to come with him the next day I agreed, wanting to make sure he didn't get himself caught in his haste to see our family. I had to rush to keep up with him—he was determined to get to the room as quickly as possible and when we did he threw off the cloak and sat in front of the mirror in one swift movement. I kept my distance and leaned against the back wall, next to the door. Though when a voice spoke that didn't belong to me or my twin, I almost screamed.

'Three days in a row, Harry?' Dumbledore said softly to my twin before his eyes met mine, 'and I believe this is your second time here, Hayley.'

I nodded and I felt relieved when he smiled softly.

'I can see you are keeping your distance, so you must be aware of the dangers,' He commented, but I avoided his eye.

The danger wasn't what was keeping me away, but the feelings that the mirror had stirred. When I looked over to the headmaster, he had a knowing smile on his face and I didn't know if it was comforting or unnerving.

'I didn't see you there, sir,' Harry murmured, drawing the man's attention to him.

'It's strange how short sighted being invisible can make you.' He smiled.

Harry seemed to be relived at the sight. Dumbledore slid off the table he had been sitting on and gestured for me to join him and Harry on the floor. I kept my gaze from the mirror and on the headmaster.

'So,' Dumbledore mused, 'both of you, like hundreds before you have discovered the delights of the mirror of Erised.'

'I didn't know it was called that, sir.' Harry said.

'But I expect by now you've realized what it does?' Dumbledore asked, giving me a knowing look.

'Well, it shows me my family—,'

'And it showed your friend Ron himself as Head Boy. It showed Hayley grown up with a family of her own.'

'How did you know—,' I started to ask but was interrupted.

'I don't need a cloak to become invisible.' He said gently, 'now can you tell me what the mirror does.'

Harry shook his head, while I remained silent.

'Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to look into this mirror, he would be able to look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?'

I looked over and saw the wheels turning behind Harry's eyes and decided that I would let him give the answer, seeing as he seemed so determined to figure it out.

'It shows us what we want… whatever we want…'

'Yes,' Dumbledore nodded before continuing, 'and no. It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. Hayley, who has also never known her family sees herself with a family of her own, all of them happy with no worries in the world. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.' Dumbledore's voice remained gentle throughout his speech, but near the end he became grave.

'The mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, Hayley and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever _do_ run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you both put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to bed?'

Harry stood first and offered me his hand, but hesitated before pulling the cloak over us.

'Sir—Professor Dumbledore? What do you see when you look into the Mirror?' Harry asked, and I looked over to the bearded wizard, curious about the answer.

'I? I see myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks.'

Harry stared while I bit my lip to keep a laugh at bay.

'One can never have enough socks.' Dumbledore said simply, before looking over to me, a kind twinkle in his eyes, 'thank you for the socks and sweets, Hayley. They are very comfortable and the beans bring back memories. Some of them fond, some not.'

'You're welcome, Professor,' I murmured, feeling myself flush in embarrassment.

Harry gave me a bewildered look before we headed back to the dorm, safely wrapped underneath the cloak. I clambered in to bed next to my brother, ignoring Ron's snores and dozing off into a dreamless sleep.

The days soon flew by without us taking nightly trips to find the mirror. I was grateful, because like Dumbledore said people often fell into madness in front of that mirror, and I didn't want to lose my brother because of it. With all talk of the mirror over, I was able to push what I had seen to the back of my mind, and when the first of January arrived I was more nervous than I could put into words. We had been talking over letters as usual after he had asked that we talk about his views when he returned to school. I had also been keeping in touch with Hermione, Pansy and Blaise. They were returning on the 4th as term started up again on the 5th, and the all seemed to be doing well, though were anxious to be back at school. Apparently with the novelty of Christmas wearing off, they were all bored.

'What's wrong?' Harry asked from my right, nudging my shoulder with his own.

'Nothing,' I said lightly, knowing that my twin didn't understand my friendship with the Slytherin.

'Ley,' his tone was empathetic and after I made sure Ron was completely preoccupied with his food I answered him.

'Draco's coming back today.' I shrugged, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach that were a mixture of excited and scared.

'Isn't that a good thing?' Harry was confused.

'Yes, it's just…' I sent a nervous glance around the room before whispering, 'I asked him about how he used to hate muggleborns, and if he still feels that way. If he doesn't I want to know why his views changed so quickly and if they haven't…'

'You're worried that it will end your friendship,' Harry nodded in understanding, winding his arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on his shoulder.

'He said he wanted to talk about it in person. I guess I'm nervous as well as excited to see him.' I murmured, knowing he would be able to hear me.

'It'll work out how it's supposed to, Ley. And no matter what, you know you still have me and Ron and Hermione.' His voice was firm—he was clearly determined to make sure I knew that.

'I know.' I leaned back to smile at him before squeezing his hand, 'I love you Jay.'

'I love you too, Ley.' He smiled too and then we both went back to our breakfast as if nothing had happened.

Now I had discussed what was bothering me, I was actually able to work up an appetite and eat something; I went for scrambled eggs on toast and when I was finished I left Ron and Harry with a goodbye and smile to meet Draco. He was supposed to be arriving at 7:30 and it was 7:28. Merlin's beard I was _so_ nervous… and excited. I didn't know what to do with myself. My mind flashed back to what I saw in that damned mirror and I realized why I was so nervous; if Draco's views hadn't changed then we wouldn't be able to have that. I shook my head in annoyance.

 _That mirror doesn't tell the future. Draco is your friend. Your best friend. You do not want to marry him or have children with him._ I was thinking this to myself, frantically making hand gestures as I spoke when a hand on my arm snapped me out of my thoughts. As soon as I saw who it was the nerves left me and a huge smile grew on my face. I saw his expression transform into one of shock when I launched myself at him, but I was just too happy to do anything other than hug him.

'I missed you,' I mumbled, so quietly that I wondered if he had actually heard me.

'I missed you too,' he said, sounding almost surprised by his own admission.

I don't know how long we were stood there for, but eventually we pulled apart and I started to walk with him to the Slytherin common room, my arm linked with his.

'Did you finish reading ahead in potions?' I asked after we'd entered the dorm and walked towards his room.

'I did and I agree about the confusing concoction potion. We'll definitely be able to do it.' He smirked confidently, making me shake my head fondly.

'How was your Christmas? Really?' I asked, sitting on his bed as he started to re-arrange things in his trunk.

'It was… boring mostly. If I hadn't used the time to practice Quidditch I probably would have gone mad.' He said, his expression giving no emotions away but I knew he was being sincere.

'Well you're back now so don't fear, you have me to entertain you until Blaise and Pansy come back. I'm sure they'll be able to do a much better job than me.' I chuckled, tucking my hair behind my ear.

'Don't sell yourself short, Princess.' Draco said, his eyes assuring.

I tucked my hair behind my ear again after it fell out and willed myself not to blush. This was ridiculous. Before he left for break he was my best friend and then that damn mirror went and messed everything up. I did not have a crush on Draco.

'You're quiet.' He commented, coming to sit next to me on his bed, 'we need to talk.'

'Yeah, we do.' I smiled nervously.

'You're right to ask me about my attitude towards muggleborns and honestly…' I held my breath after he trailed off, afraid of what his next words were going to be, 'my whole life my parents have been installing this opinion in my mind, that anyone who isn't a pureblood is inferior, and muggleborns are unnatural abominations. And until I came to Hogwarts, until we got so close, I honestly believed it.'

'And now?' I asked softly, wringing my hands together in my lap.

'Ever since I met you, you've proved everything that my father ever said was wrong. You're in Gryffindor and you're as cunning as a Slytherin, you're a half-blood and you're at the top of all your classes with Granger, a muggleborn, right behind you. You don't care about what houses people are in, you don't believe in all of the silly prejudices I've had installed in my mind since I could walk. You opened my eyes, Hayley.'

'I-I did?' I stuttered, amazed that I could inspire such a drastic change in someone.

'Yes, you did.' He offered me a half smile, 'and not just me—Pansy, Blaise and Theo feel the same way. Though none of us dare to tell our parents, the consequences would be dire.'

'I understand,' I returned his smile, relief and happiness bubbling up in my belly.

I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly; I was so happy that I wasn't losing my best friend. After a moment's hesitation, Draco hugged me back. Eventually we pulled apart and I offered him a bright smile.

'It's good to have you back,' I told him honestly, my smile widening when I noticed his abashed expression.

 **Here's chapter nine for you! I hope you liked it—I really enjoyed writing this one as I thought that Draco's change in views was something that needed to be addressed. I hope I did it justice and that it seemed believable. Please review and tell me what you think lovelies!**


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